Written in Blood
by Clare-ity
Summary: With a mysterious new friend, dangerous enemies, and a dark secret, life is about to get much more complicated for Vladimir Tod. As if being a half-vampire wasn't bad enough.
1. Chapter 1

Even for a teenage, half-vampire boy, I hated Halloween. It just felt like everyone was mocking me. And the parties were stupid; especially when your crush/obsession Meredith was with another guy...dressed as a vampire. And didn't notice you at all...even if you're a _real _vampire.

The entire concept of Halloween just really pissed me off.

So I didn't feel great going back to school the Monday after. Not that I ever did, but it now it was just that much worse.

"Hey Vlad, still sulking?" Henry, my incredibly popular best friend asked me as we walked to school. I groaned.

"Oh come on," he continued, with that stupid grin still plastered across his face, "You could have at least talked to Meredith at the party."

I glared at him, "Before or after you started flirting with her?"

"I was not-"

"Drop it," I said, cutting him off, "I'm not in the mood."

"Whatever, dude," he shrugged.

I sighed. This was something I wished I could talk about with my father. If he and my mother were still alive, they would understand. It was times like this that made me feel more alone than ever.

"You okay?" Henry asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I just wish I wasn't so different."

"Like the Goth thing, or the vampire thing?" Henry knew about my nature; I had bitten him a long time ago.

"I'm not Goth," I muttered as we walked into school. Like everyone didn't think I was weird enough already.

"Or not the _only _Goth," he whispered as we stopped by my locker.

Shoving books into the locker next to mine was a girl I had never seen before. She was dressed completely in black and her dark brown hair spiked out just above her shoulders. My jaw dropped open with a pop. Where had she come from?

"Later," Henry said with a smirk. He quickly turned on his heel and sprinted down the hallway.

Jerk.

"Hey," I mumbled awkwardly as I pulled books out of my locker.

"Hey," she replied, turning toward me. Her black-rimmed hazel eyes flashed to my face and she smiled. I noticed her fingering a red glass heart that hung on a cord around her neck.

"New here?"

"Yeah," she extended her free hand, "I'm Elvira Manson."

I took her hand. "Vladimir Tod."

For a fraction of a second, I swore that her eyes widened, like she was shocked I would have a name like that. Shocked, and maybe a little scared. She dropped my hand, but before I could blink, her expression vanished.

"What a unique name," she commented, "Like Sweeny Tod and a vampire."

I froze. "Uh, yeah, I guess."

She smiled and pulled out her schedule. "Um, do you know where English is?"

"Actually, I'm going there now. I'll show you the way."

"Thanks."

We walked in silence for a moment. "So," I said finally, "Why'd you come to Bathory?"

She looked down. "My foster mom opened a shop in town."

I hesitated. "Foster mom?"

"Yeah, my parents died a few years ago." She wasn't smiling anymore. I stopped walking.

"I-I'm so sorry. And well, so did mine."

She turned to face me. Her bright eyes were dulled with sadness and pity. "I can't believe that. And you know what? I can't think of a single thing to say. You'd think I could help, but honestly..." Her voice trailed off, unsure of how to phrase it.

"Nothing you say would make it better?" I offered as we continued walking, "Yeah, I know how it is. I can think of a hundred things that people said that only made it worse. I guess sometimes it's better to say nothing at all."

She looked into my eyes for a long moment, and finally smiled. "Couldn't have said it better myself."

I gave her a small grin, and stopped in front of English class. "Well, this is it."

"Mr. Craig?" she read off the door.

"Um, no," I said reluctantly, "Mr. Craig actually went missing a few days ago."

Her eyes widened. "That's terrible. I'm shocked to hear that." I could tell she was regretting moving here.

We walked into the class and Elvira took the empty seat beside me in the back row. A strange man stood at the front of the room. Mr. Craig's substitute, no doubt.

"Good morning, class. My name is Otis Otis, and you may call me by either, so long as Mr. precedes your choice," he said, smiling widely, "And it seems we have another new person in class today."

"Um, yes, that's me," Elvira muttered, raising her hand.

Mr. Otis looked down at his piece of paper. "Ah, yes. Elvira Manson." At the sound of her name, his smile faded and his eyebrows mashed together. He cleared his throat. "Um, you wouldn't happen to have any relatives with the same name, would you?"

Her face fell. "No living ones, sir."

His eyes popped open for a second before he could control his facial expressions. I was extremely confused, as was everyone else in the room, But Mr. Otis carried on as if nothing had happened.

He handed out a very poorly written schedule. Despite the bad penmanship, I could make out the usual subjects- verbs, nouns, adjectives- and then _monsters._ Seriously, witches, werewolves, _vampires_, whatever were incorporated into the lesson plan.

What the hell?

"I see all of you eyeing your papers suspiciously," Mr. Otis said, his smile returning, "Since my profession is first and foremost mythology, I plan to teach you all about a different mythological creature every week, along with the other required English classes, of course."

I glanced at Elvira. She looked confused and almost scared, undoubtedly because of our substitute's strange questions. Even I was a little on edge. I could have sworn that every once in awhile Mr. Otis would peer at me in a creepy, all-knowing way. It really freaked me out.

"And now, I believe you are all due for a pronoun test," he stated as he handed out papers.

I groaned along with the rest of the class.

I walked Elvira to all of her classes. She was sweet and funny, and it surprised me how much I came to like her in the short time we spent together. I even found myself looking forward to each new period, excited to see her again. And I couldn't believe the sheer stupidity of it.

Even so, I was dreading the awkwardness we would get from Henry at lunch.

"Hey," Henry said, eyeing the both of us when we got to the cafeteria.

"Hey, um, Henry, this is Elvira, Elvira, Henry." I gestured to the both of them. They smiled at each other.

"So," Henry began as we sat down, "It's nice that you two seem to be getting along." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. I kicked him under the table.

"Yeah, he's a great tour guide," Elvira sighed, "too bad all he's showing me is the door."

Henry laughed, and I could tell that Elvira had won him over. I even saw her checking him out the way most girls did, and she seemed to like what she saw. I guessed that Elvira would be hanging out with us from now on.

"So, what did you think of the new English teacher?" Henry asked. Elvira and I exchanged glances.

"Whatever," she said vaguely.

"Seems alright to me," I shrugged.


	2. Chapter 2: Interrogation

_Alright, I know the first few chapters are a little boring, but I promise it will get better! Chapter 2..._

"Hey Nelly, Vlad has a girlfriend!" Henry shouted as we walked through my front door after school.

Nelly, my mom's best friend and my legal guardian, popped out from the kitchen. "What? When did this happen? Who is it?"

They were never going to leave me alone, were they? I sighed and pulled a blood pack out of the refrigerator. Nelly is a nurse and swipes packages of donated blood that's about to expire from the hospital for me. A half-vampire's got to eat somehow, and I refused to feed from the source.

"She's not my girlfriend."

"Yet," Henry corrected, "But she definitely could be." He turned to Nelly. "There's this new girl in school and Vlad hung out with her _all day. _He walked her to all of her classes."

Nelly raised her eyebrow. "Oh did he? What's she like?"

"Very pretty. Pale with brown eyes and dark brown hair. And she's sweet and funny." Nelly smiled approvingly.

"Oh would you guys knock it off already?" I said once I finished my blood pack. "She's an orphan, and we found stuff to talk about, alright?"

They both froze. Could see the shock in their eyes, but I couldn't help being pissed. Could I even talk to a girl without being interrogated?

"I can't believe that," Henry murmured, "She just seemed so happy and normal."

"What do I always act depressed and abnormal?"

"No, but-"

"Alright, that's enough," Nelly interrupted. "Vlad, I am so proud that you helped this girl. You understand her situation better than anyone else. If you ever want to invite her over, that's fine with me."

I blushed. "I'd like to get to know her better."

"Yeah, I bet you would," Henry said with a smirk.

I just rolled my eyes.

Later on, Henry and I decided to rummage through my attic looking for my family tree as prt of my history project. After going through a few family albums, I came across a small black tube that was about the size of a chapstick. A strange symbol consisting of lines and parentheses was carved into one end.

"What is that?" Henry asked, peering at the strange object. "Some kind of ancient lip balm?"

I shook my head. "Doubt it. Come on, let's go downstairs. This place is giving me the creeps."

As I followed Henry, I couldn't help but stuff the tube into my back pocket. For some reason, I felt safer having it with me.

Even if it was just some kind of ancient lip balm.


	3. Chapter 3: Backstory

Henry was stuck at a student council meeting, so I was stuck walking home alone, until I saw Elvira walking alone as well.

"Elvira!" I called. She turned around and smiled. "Mind if I walk you home?"

Her smile faltered. "It's a bit of a way down town..."

Something about her tone suggested that she didn't really want me to come, but I really wanted to talk to her. "Doesn't matter. I've got nowhere to go."

"If you insist."

We walked a while in silence. "So, Elvira-"

"You can call me Vi, if you want," she interrupted. "My friends back home used to call me that." Her eyes became wistful suddenly.

"Do you miss them?" I asked.

"Not as much as..." she hesitated.

"Your parents?"

She shook her head. "Not just my parents. My brother as well."

I stopped. My tone was soft and full of pity. "You lost your brother, too?"

"Yeah, he was seventeen when he..." she paused, "died."

I was at a loss for words. I was dying to ask what happened, but I didn't want to upset my friend.

She nodded knowingly. "My family was found dead in a forest near my house three years ago."

"How?" My voice was low and shaky.

She didn't have to ask what I meant. "They took my dog for a walk one night after I had gone to bed." Her brow crinkled. "They never found our dog. The police said the rest of them were attacked by a wolf."

There was something in the set of her mouth when she said that that made me think she didn't really believe the story. Something else confused me; she told me her story just when my thoughts begged her to. Could it have been a coincidence?

And now that I was thinking about it, I realized that Elvira's scent was way off. I hadn't noticed it before, when we were in a crowded school, but now it was obvious. I was part vampire, so humans smelled like food to me. Elvira didn't; she smelled nice, like dried roses, but not appetizing. Which, for me at least, was weird.

I realized that I hadn't spoken for a while. Still, all I could manage was a lame "I'm sorry."

She shrugged. "Not your fault."

I looked at her for a moment. "It's not yours either."

"Are you so sure of that, Vladimir?"

I stopped, speechless again. We continued walking again in silence, until she stopped in front of an old apartment building.

"You know, you could call me Vlad, if you want." I mumbled, felling the need to say something.

She smiled a bit. "Sure. You're different from what I thought you were, Vlad. Not just another look like James Dean punk."

"I don't look like James Dean," I said smiling as I ran my fingers through my black hair.

She laughed. "Thanks for walking me home. It was," She paused and tilted her head, "_nice _to talk to someone who understands."

"Anytime," I promised.

"And if you want to talk-"

"I'll know where to go."

We smiled at each other for a moment before Elvira turned and ran toward the entrance.

"See you tomorrow!" she called over her shoulder.

I watched her disappear into the building.

_Just s you know, Vi is pronounced "Vie" and not "Vee". Review and tell me if you know what song "another look like James Dean punk" is from! (I'll be shocked if you do)_


	4. Chapter 4: Pick Away

As it turns out, Elvira and I spent a lot of time together. She and Henry got along really well, and before I knew it, she was my best friend. We were more alike than I would have guessed, both shy, liking dark clothes, and still a little sad, while just wanting a place to fit in. And we fit in with each other.

Even so, I sensed there was something she was hiding from me. All I really knew about her home was that she lived with her mother's former mentor. For what, I had no clue. She never talked about her personal life, if she had any other hanging out with me and Henry. Mr. Otis still gave her strange looks, and his question still rattled me. I was getting ready to report him. She was harder to figure out than anyone I had ever known.

"Hey, Vlad," Elvira said one day as I watched Meredith walk down the hall, "Why doesn't Meredith ever hang out with us?"

I shrugged and pulled books out of my locker. "Why should she?"

"But I thought she was your girlfriend."

My head snapped up. "What? Who told you that?"

"No one, it's just," she twined her fingers together nervously, "the way you look at her, I guess. Like you're in love.

"And here I thought I was being so slick about it."

"Well are you?" she pressed.

I sighed. "I don't know. It feels like that sometimes."

She was quiet and stared off in the other direction. I wanted so badly to know what she was thinking that I tried to push into her mind. And it was like hitting a wall. If I pushed hard enough into Henry's mind I could sometimes get a read on his thoughts, so I figured it would be the same with everyone. But inside Vi's head, I almost felt like some force was repelling me. Like _she_ was blocking my powers. I had never experienced anything like it.

This was what I was thinking of when I walked into English class. Mr. Otis was dressed in rags and he looked just like, like...

"A homeless guy?" one kid offered.

"A mortician," Stephanie Brawn stated matter-of-factly.

"My landlord?" Vi muttered.

Mr. Otis pinched the bridge of his nose.

Carl raised his hand. "A zombie?"

"Yes!" Mr. Otis cheered. "And now it's time for your winter project." He grabbed his purple top hat and displayed its contents. "My hat is filled with little slips of paper with the name of a different creature on each one. You will draw from the hat and write an essay pretending to be the creature you have chosen."

There was a range of reactions throughout the room. All I could think was _not vampire, not vampire, not vampire..._

"Ahh, Vlad," Mr. Otis said, stepping in front of my desk, "Pick away."

I tentatively reached into the hat and drew a slip. Scribbled on the paper was _werewolf._ I sighed in relief. I could do werewolf. Anything but vampire. I glanced up at Mr. Otis.

"Interesting choice, Vlad."

I looked back at my paper. It didn't say werewolf anymore. Very clearly written was_ vampire._

My jaw dropped and I searched the room for the substitute. He was standing in front of Elvira's desk. She reached into the hat and picked her slip. Her eyes widened as she read her choice. "Um, can we switch creatures?"

I raised my hand. "I'd be happy to, sir."

"No!" Mr. Otis shouted before controlling himself. "No, I'm _very_ excited to hear both of your presentations."

Vi gave me an apologetic glance. I wondered what was so bad about her choice.

Couldn't have been worse than mine.


	5. Chapter 5: Girls

"I swear, it said werewolf and the writing just_ changed _to vampire!" I argued with Nelly, knowing that she would just dismiss my worry and say that I had been under a lot of stress and just imagined it...

"Vlad, you have been under a lot of stress lately. Much more than is healthy for a boy your age. I'm sure you just imagined it," she stated, sounding like a nurse giving a diagnosis. I sighed and opened another blood pack. There was just no point in arguing with her.

"Whatever," I paused, remembering something else that was bothering me. "Hey, you know what? Elvira acted weird after she got her assignment, too."

Nelly shrugged. "Maybe she's just shy. Or maybe she got something embarrassing, like a unicorn or fairy."

I smiled, imagining Vi as a fairy, band t-shirts, skinny jeans and all. "I don't know what she picked. I just feel like she's hiding something from me. Something big."

She smiled and kissed the top of my head. "She's a girl; of course she is."

_Short chapter, but I like this one. Please review!_


	6. Chapter 6: Figure Things Out

I thought about what Nelly had said. It didn't surprise me that all girls had secrets; I figured it was just something else that they used to torture men. But what was Elvira's? Could it be as bad I subconsciously feared, or was I just being paranoid? I finally switched off the TV; I couldn't concentrate on _Nosferatu _anymore. I grabbed some candles and quietly crept out of the house.

I walked down the block to Bathory high school, whose bell tower reached the highest point in town. The school had, ironically, once been a Catholic Church, until some unspeakable scandal that was still unknown had stripped the church of its use. Now it was a public institution.

Funny how well people can screw things up.

I glanced around to make sure no one was watching, and I hovered up to the tower. The belfry was only accessible from the large outer window, and, since I was willing to bet no one had a scaffolding on hand, I was the only one who could actually get up there. I climbed in and lit a few candles, then bent down in front of a picture of my parents.

"Hey, Mom. Hey, Dad."

This was my sanctuary. It was the place where I could think without interruptions, which was what I needed to do. I stared at the cobwebbed ceiling and sighed. For the past few days, I could not get Elvira out of my head. There were just some things that weren't fitting.

For one thing, she sometimes seemed to know what I was thinking. How I felt about Meredith, what I got on my math quiz, where I wanted to go after school, and sometimes even before _I _knew these things. Maybe we were just good friends, but still...

Second, she was a mental block. _Literally. _ There was, like, a shield around her thoughts or something. It's not like I've tried to read anyone's thoughts, so it might be like that for everyone but it just seemed...wrong.

Lastly, her blood didn't smell like food, it just smelled like a perfume. Every person I've ever met, even the most disgusting ones, made me thirsty. And it's so sad that I would be worried because I didn't want to eat someone.

So what? Did that make her more, or possibly_ less_, than human? Or was I just finally losing it?

Just then, I heard a rustling from outside. I walked over to the window, knowing for sure that the goth kids that sometimes hung out on the steps were gone for the night, and caught a glimpse of a black-hooded figure running away from the school.

My instinct told me to run home, but my personal nature compelled me. I floated down to the ground and followed the path the figure had taken. I soon caught sight of the black cloak, and he or she was walking slightly faster than a normal pace.

"Hey, stop!" I called, like the idiot I am.

The person froze and took off running. I cursed quietly and ran after them. It wasn't long before I overtook the cloak and tackled it to the ground.

My victim struggled in my arms. I flipped them over and ripped off the black hood. And my heart stopped cold.

"Elvira?" I gasped, looking into the face of the cloaked figure.


	7. Chapter 7:Angel of My Nightmare

We stayed like that for a long moment. Her pale face was flushed from running and she was breathing hard. Finally the awkwardness of our situation got to me and I rolled off her. She sat up.

"Okay," I said, not sure where to begin, "can you please explain why you were running out of the high school?"

"Can you explain why you were following me?" she challenged.

I glared at her. "You first."

She sighed. "I broke into the middle school to look around Mr. Otis's classroom. Then I snuck into the high school to try and find his file."

"What? Are you crazy? You could have gotten arrested! Why would you do that?"

"Because I think Mr. Otis knew my mom. And if he did, well, I'm completely screwed."

My eyes popped open. "What do you mean?"

She started to pace and rub her hands nervously. "People are after me, Vlad. I'm not..._normal._"

Elvira was telling a half-vampire that _she _wasn't normal? "What do you mean?"

"Well, it's a long story, and the details are very unclear, but," she paused, considering. "Have you ever heard of the death angel?"

I was taken back. "Um, the one who's supposed to destroy the world?"

She rolled her eyes. "I suppose that's all you heard. Yes, but she's not supposed to destroy the world. She's not even an angel, really. That's more of an iconic symbol."

"I don't really like where you're going with this."

"Well she's got some powers," she continued, as if I hadn't spoken. "Telepathy, mind reading, clairvoyance, and such. It takes a while for them to fully develop, but when they do, well, she can become pretty terrifying." She stopped, taking in my startled expression. "But she's not evil. Not at all. Her purpose is to protect humankind."

I looked into her eyes. There was no hint of joking in them. She was dead serious. "Um, are you okay? Overtired? Hallucinating?"

"I'm not kidding, Vald!" she exclaimed. "I thought _you'd _understand, being, you know, a half-vampire and all."

I froze. My heart stopped beating and I just stared at her. My secret, the one I had kept for my entire life, was blown. She knew, no point in playing dumb. "How do you know that?"

"My mom was psychic. She left me a note before she died. She told me to find you, Vladimir Tod, and that you were the only half-vampire in existence."

I shook my head. I couldn't believe this. "So let me get this straight. You're the Angel of Death who's supposed to save the human race from, well you didn't tell me what, but I assume it has something to do with vampires, and you know that I'm half-human, half-vampire because your dead, psychic mother told you to find me."

She cringed. "Well I'm not an angel, but, yeah that's pretty much it."

"Right." I turned on my heel and started walking away.

"Wait!" she grabbed my arm. "I can _prove _it!"

I let her pull me into a dark alley. "Please trust me," she whispered, and closed her eyes.

At first, nothing happened. Then suddenly, she began to glow. Her peachy skin paled to a bone white, and her brown hair became jet black and curly. The black cape she wore transformed into shimmering black robes, and if I didn't know any better, I could have sworn I saw midnight colored wings poking out from her back. I had never seen anything so beautiful or terrifying. I passed out cold.

When I opened my eyes, the normal Elvira stared back at me. She helped me up. I stared at her for a while.

"Oh my God," I said, finally, "You're an angel."

She groaned. "Please do _not_ call me that. I'm still just me. I'm still your quirky friend Vi, I just have wings to go with it."

"So those _were_ wings!"

She laughed. "Yeah. I'm only supposed to protect humans from the evil vampires, so I'm not sure why I'm supposed to find you, but," She looked down, "I'm glad I did."

"So am I."

We smiled at each other for a moment.

"Well," Elvira said finally, "we better go before the cops find us. It would be kind of hard to explain why we're here."

_Kin of unexpected plot twist, I think. But I want to know what YOU think! Review and leave me your thoughts, please!_


	8. Chapter 8: You Think?

_Alright, so I'm going to try something a little different this chapter and write in Elvira's point of view! I've been wanting to for a while, and I hope you all like it!_

_Oh, and I realized that I haven't done that whole disclaimer thing yet so..._

**Disclaimer:**

_I don't own any of the characters in this fic other than Elvira and her family. And in the third chapter I quoted "Hello My Hate" by Black Veil Brides, which I also do not own, and can't even buy on itunes. And the title of last chapter, Angel of My Nightmare, is from the song "I Miss You" by Blink 182, which I have no claims to, and will probably get sued for using._

_Now that I have that off my chest, Chapter 8 in Elvira's point of view!_

"What's up, Vlad?" I asked as he came out of English class. He seemed sort of...on edge lately. I almost believed him when he said that my destiny of protecting the human race didn't bother him, and it was better than me being, say, a mermaid. But still, I worried about him.

"I'm really suspicious of Mr. Otis," he whispered, making sure no one would overhear us. "I think he _knows._"

"That you're a..." I didn't bother finishing my sentence.

"Yeah. And I wonder...did you get _angel_ for your assignment?"

I nodded quickly. "You don't think he knows about _me,_ too?"

He shrugged. "Let's hope not. Maybe he doesn't even know about me; maybe I'm just being paranoid." His face was wrinkled in worry, but quickly relaxed when he saw Meredith walking down the hall. I tried not to let it bother me that nothing I could say would calm him down the way one glance from Miss Popularity could.

"If you had just asked her to the dance like I told you to, she wouldn't be going with Tom," Henry said. I jumped; I hadn't realized he was standing in front of our lockers

Vlad sighed. "That hardly makes me feel better."

"Don't worry," Henry assured, "I can find you a date."

I snorted. "Henry and his stud services."

"Someone's bitter this morning; I can find you a date too, if you want."

"Why? So I can watch a bunch of teenagers with raging hormones hang all over each other's necks?" I rolled my eyes. "No thanks."

"Well, as fun as this has been," Vald said, slamming his locker door shut, "I gotta get to class. See you guys at lunch."

I watched him walk down the hall. Henry looked at me in a strange way for a minute. "Alright Vi, you're never like this. What's up?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're always in such a good mood, but today you just seem...pissed. And I thought you'd want to go to the dance, if only to make fun of everyone who's there."

I smiled. "That could be fun."

"See? So what's the problem?"

I looked down at my feet. "Guys don't date girls like me. I'm not fluffy and preppy and I wouldn't go out with someone just for a dance. And if that's what someone wants, I would've been asked out by now."

"You haven't been asked out yet because the guys at this school are idiots."

I looked up at Henry. He was smiling. "You know, you're too good for the girls at this school."

His grin got impossibly wider. "You think I don't know that?"


	9. Chapter 9: Damsel in Distress

_Vlad's point of view for this chapter...enjoy!_

Elvira and I were just leaving school when my harassers, Tom and Bill, found us. It was bad enough to get beaten up alone; it was so much worse to get beaten up in front of a girl.

"Hey goth boy," Tom said, pulling me against the wall by my shirt. I struggled against his grip.

"I'm not goth," I muttered.

Tom pushed me harder. "You're just a goth sack of crap. You both are."

"Actually," Bill said from behind us, "This one's kind of cute.

I leaned away from Tom. Bill leered at Elvira and grabbed her arms.

"Get your hands off me!" she shrieked, shoving Bill harshly. He pulled her arms behind her back and forced her closer to him.

My blood boiled, and I realized that Vi's skin was shimmering. If she, er, _transformed _in front of Bill and Tom, well, she could kiss a normal life goodbye. I was furious with them. How dare these two idiots screw everything up? I was so angry that I easily pushed into Tom's mind.

_Bill better hurry up with that stupid girl. There was nothing special about her. Goth, emo punk, who gives a crap? They're all just freaks and losers, like this kid. Once Vlad was taken care of, they'd better get going, or Tom was gonna miss his ballet practice. He'd die if anyone knew that his parents made him take dancing lessons..._

I smiled evilly. "Hey, you better hurry. Don't want to be late for dance class." Tom's eyes popped open and his grip loosened. My voice was menacing. "Tell your friend to let go of her."

After a minute of shocked staring, he shoved me to the floor and sprinted out the door. Bill, not understanding the dramatic exit, let go of Elvira and followed Tom.

Vi's books spilled all over the floor. I bent down to help her collect them, but she scooped them up and walked quickly towards the door.

"Vi, wait!" I shouted. "Elvira!" I caught up to her and spun her around to face me. Her cheeks were red and she didn't meet my eyes. "What, no thank you?"

"I could have taken care of myself."

"You could have changed. And then how would you have explained yourself?"

She finally looked up at me. Her eyes were frustrated and tired. "I don't know. But I don't need someone to protect me. I'm not defenseless."

"I know that," I said sincerely, "But I'm your friend; I'll always protect you."

She looked at me seriously. "As would I for you." She smiled then, all traces of tension melting, and pointed to her incisors. "Ooh, scary."

I ran my tongue over my teeth and realized my fangs had elongated. I caught sight of myself in a darkened window.

I looked like a vampire.

_I felt like adding some action and much-needed character development. Oh, and if you haven't already, please go check out Emmett'sGrl101's story, The End of Vlad!...It's intense!_


	10. Chapter 10: Snow Fall

_Hey, Elvira's point of view again!_

Just like everything else in my life, I was late to the Snow Ball. I paced in front of my mirror for about a half hour deciding whether or not to go. On one hand, there would be dancing, and I didn't even have a date. On the other, I was dying to see what a school dance was like. Eventually my curiosity got the better of me and I found myself outside of the school.

I was immediately disappointed; the gym was decorated from floor to ceiling with revolting little paper snowflakes. The DJ was amateur at best, and it was one of those things where all of the girls dance in the middle of the room and the guys stand on the outside and look bored. Worse still, everyone looked at me just like they did at school. Which wouldn't have bothered me if I hadn't spent _three_ hours getting ready. And my velvet, crimson dress didn't pay for itself. Seriously, _what_ were they staring at?

I finally found Henry and Vlad with their dates. I almost laughed. Carrie Anderson? _That's_ who Henry came up with for Vlad? I didn't know her personally, but I had heard plenty of _very personal_ stories from the guys about what she did in the back of the school. I'm sure most of them were untrue, but still. She just didn't seem like Vlad's type. Not that I cared.

Even they were staring at me. "Jeez guys, do I have something in my teeth? Why's everyone looking at me?"

Henry was the first to recover. "You look...good. And everyone is noticing."

I stared at him for a moment. Then I burst out laughing.

"Seriously." Vlad chimed in finally.

"Really? Who spiked _your_ punch?"

He rolled his eyes. I saw Henry and his date move out to the dance floor for the corny slow song that the DJ put on, and Vlad noticed, too. Or maybe he was watching Meredith hold onto Tom's neck. He sighed, and so did I. He really was no fun when he was miserable. I nudged him with my shoulder and nodded to Carrie. Vlad sighed again and asked Carrie if she wanted to dance.

"I'd love to!" she said, and dragged him onto the dance floor.

I walked over to the punch bowl. Just for kicks I looked over my shoulder. Sure enough, a few dateless boys looked at me. Some even waved. Lord.

A voice came from beside me. "Hey."

I turned and saw Matt from History. I honestly doubted he knew who I was. "Um, hey Matt."

"So I was wondering," he paused to flip his hair, "Wanna dance?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Do you even know my name?"

"Um, of course. It's, uh..."

"Bye." I turned and walked away. God, some guys were just so...so...

Sadistic. I heard loud, throaty laughter from behind me and I knew it could only come from Tom. My heart sank. He was pointing at Vlad. Couldn't there be at least one place where a big idiot like Tom could just leave everyone alone?

"Hey loser," Tom said, "How much did you pay Carrie to go out with you?"

"Nothing," Vlad returned smartly," I just promised her tickets to your ballet recital."

Dead silence. And then I flat out laughed. Henry joined me, along with the rest of the gym. Carrie ran up and kissed Vlad. Huh, did I just _imagine_ her pulling away from Vlad right when Tom was laughing? Some girlfriend she'd make.

But Vlad pulled away and looked wistfully out the door that Meredith had just exited. He turned and smiled at me. I gave him a thumbs up.

I was glad I came.

_I promise actual action is coming soon! R&R please!_


	11. Chapter 11: Sucky Situations

_Elvira's point of view…_

"So remember," I said, flipping the annoying halo out of my face, "Angels aren't just mythology; if you look around, you can see the angels in your life everyday. The most real ones don't have wings."

My classmates applauded politely. I thought my oral report was a success, considering no one had thrown a tomato at me yet. Mr. Otis clapped.

"Wonderful work," he paused, "and the halo adds a nice touch."

I smiled and bowed my head. Vlad whispered his congrats as I sat in the desk next to his.

"And now, we have the pleasure of hearing Vladimir's take on being a vampire."

I gave him a thumbs up as he nervously made his way to the front of the room.

"But before we begin, would you mind passing out these cloves of garlic, Vlad?"

I froze. What was Mr. Otis's problem? He couldn't possibly know Vlad's secret…

Could he?

"I can't; I'm deathly allergic to garlic. The office has it on file, if you don't believe me."

Mr. Otis shrugged. "Proceed."

Vlad turned toward the class. "Hi, I'm Vladimir Tod, and I'm a vampire."

Meredith giggled, and that was enough to break his stage fright. He talked about the impracticalities of his aversion to Italian food and the sun, but bragged about his abilities of flying and reading minds. He ended with an appropriate:

"Being a vampire pretty much sucks."

The class applauded. Mr. Otis seemed to enjoy Vlad's presentation, though he asked to see him after class. I was sure it couldn't be good.

"Hey angel," Henry greeted me outside English, "Did you whip out your _real_ wings for the presentation?" I had told Henry about the whole Angel of Death thing, and he had taken it surprisingly well. I mean, at least he didn't faint.

"_Now_ you think of this."

Vlad walked over then, looking pretty pissed. "So Mr. Otis just invited himself over to dinner at my house."

Henry and I stared at him in horror for a few moments.

"Dude, that sucks."

"What if he really is dangerous Vlad?" I asked in my signature Miss Brightside way. "Should Henry and I come over, too?"

"Don't drag _me_ into this," Henry muttered.

"Henry's right," Vlad agreed. "I can't bring you guys into this. You could get hurt."

"That's stupid Vlad. You could just as well get hurt-"

"Even so," he cut me off, "I can't put you in that position. I'll keep you posted."

We looked at each other with silent dread. Having your teacher over for dinner is bad enough. But when your teacher is possibly a psycho murderer, whom you believe, however truthfully, killed you parents? That just bites.

_A cliffhanger if I ever saw one…review if you want, don't if you don't._


	12. Chapter 12: Serious

_Yeah, still Elvira's POV….from now on you can just assume it's Elvira unless I say something….anyway…Enjoy!_

I nervously tapped my fingers on my desk in homeroom. It was the day after Vlad's creepy dinner-date thing with Mr. Otis, and I hadn't heard from him. Worse still, he wasn't at school. What if Mr. Otis did something to Vlad? Our odd English/homeroom teacher sat at the front of the class, casually reading a newspaper. Was that the face of a murderer? Could he be the one who killed Vlad's parents? What if Vlad admitted that he suspected our teacher of murder? Would Mr. Otis try to silence Vlad-_permanently_?

Luckily the principal came on the loudspeaker then, quieting my overactive imagination.

"_It pains me deeply to announce this, but our faithful teacher, Mr. Craig, was found dead by the creek this morning. He was an honest and kind man, and will be greatly missed. To honor his memory, there will be dismissal after these announcements. That is all."_

A horrified silence crept over the room. I was personally shocked. I hadn't done anything to help Mr. Craig. If I was supposedly so powerful I could save the human race (which, to me, seemed like a lot of crap) how could I let one person slip through my fingers? Maybe I really was a curse. I mean, what happened all those years ago was sign enough. That horrible day that I tried to erase from my memory…

"Miss Manson." I looked up and noticed I was the only one left in the room. Mr. Otis was speaking to me. "I think you should go home now."

I left obediently, not wanting to be alone with my teacher. Henry was waiting for me outside the school. I started walking, and he followed without hesitation.

After a while, I headed towards the woods.

"Where _exactly_ are we going?" Henry asked suspiciously. I didn't answer. He realized where we were soon enough. "Oh, come on, Elvira, let's go back."

I kept walking until I stood by the edge of the creek. Police tape crisscrossed the area where they must have found the teacher. He had been so close. Shouldn't I have sensed something? Known how I was supposed to help?

Henry pulled at my sleeve. "Come on, let's go. I don't want to see this."

I felt like my feet were planted there. Like I was supposed to see how I had failed. "What good am I to the human race, Henry, if I haven't done anything to save Mr. Craig?"

"What, are you talking about that stupid legend thing?"

I continued to stare at the creek. "This is my fault."

"No, it's not," Henry said sharply. "Don't stand here and blame yourself. It's unhealthy. Someday, you can find whoever did it and whip his ass. But today, we need to help Vlad."

"You're right," I admitted finally. "Let's find out if Vlad is okay."

Not ten seconds later did Henry's phone ring. He answered, and after a quick conversation, he looked t me gravely.

"Vlad's in trouble."

And we took off running.

_I hope I'm not skipping anything important, but I'm impatient to get to the action…tell me what you think!_


	13. Chapter 13: Relations and Revelations

Henry and I raced up to Vlad's driveway and stopped short. He and Mr. Otis were packing blood bags into Nelly's minivan.

Okay, _what?_

"Um, dude…" Henry said blankly.

"So, did our teacher decide to stop being completely creepy?" I quipped.

"I know this looks weird, but Nelly's in trouble." Vlad winced as he said it. "Some creepy vampire who's out to get me took her away. Oh, and I was wrong. Otis didn't murder my parents. He's…my uncle."

"Oh my God," Henry and I breathed at the same time. You leave Vlad alone for twenty-four hours and _this_ is what he finds out.

"Drudge, come here," Otis said, gesturing toward Henry. Henry raised an eyebrow.

"_What _did he just call me?"

Vlad pushed him off. "I'll explain later. Just do what he says!" Henry shrugged and followed Otis, leaving Vlad and I to stare at each other.

"So what do I do?" I asked after a moment. Vlad shifted uncomfortably.

"You try not to kill me." I raised an eyebrow and Vlad sighed. "I told Otis about you. The legend stuff."

"WHAT?" I exploded. I could not believe he could do such a thing. For crying out loud, I kept his secret! And it's not like _I_ go around drinking blood everyday!

Vlad threw his hands up in defense. "Hey, he already suspected it!"

"That's true, dear," Mr. Otis said, appearing out of nowhere. "And I'm sorry for my "creepiness", but I was almost positive I knew your mother. It amazed me that Elvira Manson's daughter could be in the class I was teaching. You bear her namesake, am I right?"

"Yes," I choked out, "I was named after her. How did you know my mother?"

"She had been recruited by the Stokerton Council, and once a council of vampires choose you, there's little you can do to resist. Comply or die is their motto." Otis let out a bemused laugh.

"Vampires have councils?"

"Yes; like anyone, vampires have rules to follow, and government to carry out those rules. Your mother was a gifted psychic; she helped the council make decisions based on the future. Vlad's father and I became wonderful friends with her. I was horrified to hear of her passing."

"So my dad and Elvira's mom were friends?" Vlad said, amazed. Otis nodded.

"Indeed. In fact, he knew Elvira as well. He was quite sure she would be the angel our legends spoke of. He advised Elvira senior to keep her daughter well hidden. It looks like she took this advice to heart."

I couldn't speak. What was there to say?

"I must admit," Otis continued, "I am a bit skeptical of your and Vlad's friendship. It could be vey dangerous to the both of you, seeing as you are so different."

That hurt me. "Vlad is my friend; No stupid vampire law is going to change that."

Otis smiled a bit. "Maybe I'm wrong."

"Are you guys coming, or what?" Henry shouted in irritation.

I half-smiled. "Time to kick some serious vampire butt."

"No," Vlad said seriously, "It's too dangerous."

"Oh, shut up," I said breezily as I got in the van after Henry. I was completely ready for some action. Finally, a chance to do something!

"To the Stokerton Council," Mr. Otis said, with an air of impending doom.

_The next chapters are the best ones….please review!_


	14. Chapter 14: Not Without a Fight

The two-hour drive to Stokerton was quiet. Henry had fallen asleep the second the car started. Vlad and Otis talked about the vampire world for a time, and I tried not to listen. I had a feeling that it was a conversation Vlad missed out on as a child, and I didn't want to intrude. I knew that if I could learn more about myself I wouldn't want anyone to listen in.

We finally stopped in front of a generic office building in downtown Stokerton.

"_This _is it?' I asked, disappointed,

"Not what you were expecting, is it?" Otis said.

Vlad rolled his eyes. "I bet she was hoping we'd be going to a cemetery somewhere."

I tried to ignore his snide but true comment.

"Henry," Otis said, "Take this squirt gun. If any vampires come near, use it; it's filled with garlic juice." Henry obeyed. I started to follow Vlad out the door.

Vlad turned around. "What are you doing?"

I shrugged. "Exiting the vehicle."

"I think it would be safer for you if you stayed with Henry."

"Then _why_ did you ask me to come?"

He paused. "I guess I thought it would be too dangerous to leave you back home unprotected."

"Since when do I need protection?" I scoffed.

Vlad ducked his head. "I was worried about you."

Now I kind of felt like a jerk. My tone softened. "Well I'm here. I might as well help."

"I think she should come," Otis offered. "Although I don't like the idea, we need all the help we can get."

Vlad nodded reluctantly and we entered the building. We sat in a waiting room for a while.

"Ugh," I muttered, "Just my luck. I finally enter into the world of vampires, and it's no more special than a common doctor's office. I mean, for crying out loud, they have a _waiting room._"

"Yeah," Vlad agreed, "Where's all the coffins and spider webs?"

Otis shook his head. "You two have seen far too many vampire movies."

Finally, we were shown to an elevator. Once inside, Otis touched a small marking underneath the floor buttons. The symbol glowed, and a new set of buttons popped out. My jaw dropped. "How did you do that?"

Vlad rolled his eyes. "It's just a vampire trick. I learned about it when Henry and I found my Dad's journal."

I glared at him. "I must have missed that little field trip." He nodded sheepishly.

The elevator finally stopped, and the doors opened to a dimly lit and somewhat creepy hallway. I smiled. It was starting to look more like Dracula's lair.

We were guided into an appropriately dark and ornate room. I would have been thrilled, if not for the vampires that greeted us. I counted twelve; I knew we were no match for all of them. I was about to whisper something to Vlad, but someone grabbed me from behind and twisted my arms back. I was trapped, and I saw that Vlad was in the same position-trapped by _Otis_. I couldn't speak; I was overcome by fear and betrayal.

"Ahh, Otis, my friend!" A particularly sinister looking vampire stood.

"D'Ablo," Vlad murmured with a level of hatred I had never heard in his voice.

D'Ablo continued without acknowledging him. "I see that you have not failed the council. Not only have you brought us the traitor's son, you have brought us the abomination that our former psychic brought into this world!" Otis would not look at me. God, how could I have been so stupid? I broke the adolescent code: I trusted a teacher.

"Otis," Vlad whispered, trying to keep the hysteria out of his voice, "I…we trusted you. How could you do this to us? You're my uncle. I thought you were supposed to protect me."

The teacher showed no emotion as he said, "You mean nothing to me, Vlad. Justice must be served. Your very existence breaks a law."

"It is a shame," D'Ablo admitted. "You would have made an interesting case study." His eyes wandered to mine. "You _both_ would." He rubbed his chin and walked over to me, examining me as you might a piece of meat you wanted to buy. I glared.

"Bite me."

He laughed in a horrible, evil way. "Oh, you _are_ your mother's child. She was just as snarky when we…er…_acquired_ her. I suppose you never heard the story." Despite myself, I was curious. I shook my head. D'Ablo smiled. I was playing right into his hand, and I knew it. But I couldn't help myself.

"We had heard of an amazingly powerful clairvoyant that had just come to America. Her name was Elvira Maxim, and she was nineteen years old. She had fled from her home in Romania to elope with an American she had met there." I raised my eyebrows. I was Romanian? Cool! D'Ablo went on. "We brought her to the council. It took some _convincing,_" he chuckled, and I growled, hearing the double meaning to his words, "But she agreed to help us. All was well for a long time. She had a son about six years later, but there was nothing supernatural about him. She lived in peace with her little family for many years, coming whenever we called to make a prediction for us. I suspect she grew to like her job; there was nothing sinister about deciding whether a vampire was more useful dead or alive. She was able to save many. However," he paused to look at me the way a cat looks at a mouse, "she had another child. She brought her daughter to Thomas Tod, who saw immediately what the child was. The Death Angel, so to speak. Elvira fled from Elysia, and settled down in a secluded suburb. And I suppose you know the rest."

I bowed my head. "They all died."

Suddenly, another evil laugh filled the room. "You foolish child, you had the power to stop their demise. You didn't really believe that asinine story about the animal attack, did you?"

My head snapped up. "What?"

"We had no choice but to kill you, of course. You are, my dear, the greatest threat ever known to vampire kind. However, we had to get rid of your traitor mother first."

"You…" I whispered, the anger shaking my voice. My family's murderer was standing right in front of me. The wonderful, familiar feeling of adrenaline pumping through my veins washed over me. My skin started to tingle and glow. My fear was completely gone; this bastard killed my family, and now he was going to pay.

Suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my side. My vision lost focus, and I couldn't make the change. I realized vaguely that the vampire who held me must have stabbed me. D'Ablo's horrible voice came to me through the fog.

"Yes, me. I killed your mother because she left Elysia and created you. Your brother and father were both mortal and easily dealt with. Of course, that could have been avoided, if you had given yourself up. But now I'm glad you hadn't; your death will be an acceptable award for Otis."

I looked up. The pain in my side had subsided, the wound probably already healed. D'Ablo's hideous face was just inches from mine. I spit in his eye.

"Gah!" he cried, toppling over, "You devil child!" I had the spunk to laugh, and I heard a weak chuckle come from Vlad. It was then that I realized how much he meant to me; he was my friend in all things, even this.

D'Ablo got up. "That is enough! Otis, take this wretched creature away." Otis took me from the other vampire and shoved me roughly to the door. What was the point of fighting it? I would lose in my human form. "And the woman, your snack, is in the prison."

"No!" Vlad shouted, "Otis you can't! You can't do that to me!" I felt so completely sick.

Otis turned to Vlad. "You are nothing to me, Vlad, but a mistake your father made many years ago." My anger flared again as I watched the tears pool in Vlad's eyes. No one, _no one,_ hurt my friend like that. I no longer felt hopeless. I wasn't going to let these vampires take us down.

Not without a fight.

_Phew, that was really long…but my favorite chapter so far! What will happen next? Keep reading!_


	15. Chapter 15: The Truth

Otis dragged me into the prison chambers. I could see Nelly in one of the cells, and the need to protect her overwhelmed me. As soon as Otis let me go, I roundhouse kicked him in the gut. He staggered backward.

"My darling, was that really necessary?"

"Don't give me any of that "darling" crap," I said, throwing a punch in his face. He caught my well-placed fist a half second before it connected.

"We don't really have time for this," he sighed, looking meaningfully at Nelly.

"Just can't wait for your 'snack'?" I kicked again. Otis avoided this one. "You make me sick."

He entered Nelly's cell without responding. I chased after him and saw that, rather than attack Vlad's guardian, he pulled away a covering to reveal a tunnel.

"I didn't mean anything I said," Otis sighed. "Vladimir means more to me than anything in the world. Although I abandoned his father all those years ago, I will not do the same to him, or his guardian," he paused. "Or you."

Something in the tone of his voice assured me that he was telling the truth. I couldn't meet his gaze, so I looked in the tunnel. "This leads outside?"

Otis nodded. "Nelly, you should go through now, so it appears as if I…uh…_finished_ you." The poor thing was wide-eyed and nervous as hell, but she nodded and crawled through. When she was out of sight I blushed.

"I'm sorry for kicking you."

Otis smiled ruefully. "You, my girl, have a powerful kick." I chuckled along with him until he turned serious. He unloaded a few blood bags from his backpack and handed them to me. "Here. Spill a few of these around so it looks as if I killed Nelly. Make it convincing. I'll go get Vlad." He must have seen my queasy expression, for he added: "Pretending it's Kool Aid helps."

"Oh, yeah," I mumbled, popping out my switchblade. Otis looked at me oddly before hurrying away.

He returned with an indignant Vlad in tow, who was screaming at him for killing Nelly. His expression cleared when he saw what I was doing. "What the hell?"

"Masterful," Otis breathed. "Now, we must get through the tunnel before someone finds us."

Vlad glared at his uncle. "Why should I trust you? You could be leading us to the incinerator. And why is Vi pouring blood all over the place? Have you brainwashed her?"

Incinerator? I hadn't even thought of that. "Vlad, it's ok. Nelly's fine; Otis got her out of here. He lied to the council to save us." I paused, remembering what had happened there. "Otis, was D'Ablo's story true?"

His face darkened. "Yes; his thoughts were sincere. I had no idea that your family's death was his doing. If I had, I would have never brought you here."

I clenched my teeth to keep from screaming. That monster would not live another day if I had anything to do with it.

"Well, let's go then," Otis said, pushing us towards the tunnel.

"Wait," Vlad hesitated, "You first." Otis sighed but crawled in. We followed suit.

After a thirty-foot drop that I hadn't expected, we crept through a dirty, seemingly endless crawl space on our stomachs. I kept up a stream of curses, to the point where Vlad stopped and asked, "Where _exactly_ did you live before coming to Bathory?"

Finally, like they say when people die, we reached a bright light at the end of the tunnel. After Vlad had pulled me out, I saw that the light was coming from headlights. Henry and Nelly were standing by the car, shaken and scared, but alive nonetheless. Vlad wasted no time in throwing his arms around his guardian, and I politely looked away from their tearful reunion. Henry ran up to me.

"My God, you look like hell."

"Thanks," I said sarcastically, and was cut off by his bear hug.

"You are all about to find out what hell looks like." We all froze.

D'Ablo.

_DUN DUN DUN!_


	16. Chapter 16: The Choice

"You all thought you would get away and live happily ever after. However, you all thought wrong." D'Ablo's beady eyes found Otis. "I never would have suspected you of treason, Otis. It seems I should have."

My teacher's response was cold. "Vladimir is my family, and I will do whatever it takes to protect him."

D'Ablo's face turned right red. "Fool! You have chosen your own demise!" Before Otis could react, he was thrown to the floor and pinned down by two thuggish-looking vampires.

"No!" Vlad screamed. "This ends now, D'Ablo." The old vampire looked at Vlad eagerly, his mouth forming into a horrifying snarl. I could feel the adrenaline, that sense of power coursing through me again.

"Henry, Nelly, get in the car." They obeyed without hesitation. I stalked forward, skin tingling.

It was then that D'Ablo threw Vlad to the ground. I could hear the sickening snap of bone when his ribs broke. That did it. In a flash of light, I wasn't just Elvira Manson. I was something otherworldly, powerful, and terrifying. Something all the more incredible because I knew I would never quite understand it. I picked up the shocked D'Ablo and threw him down the alley. I was able to beat him down long enough for Vlad to get his bearings.

I might have been strong, but I was young and inexperienced. D'Ablo fond my weak spots, and the fight turned against me. I knew I had lost. I had let everyone down…

D'Ablo suddenly stopped hitting me. He was fixed on the black, cylindrical object Vlad pointed at him. I remembered it from one of my mother's books. But what was it again?

"The Lucis," Otis breathed.

_Yes._ The weapon _believed_ only to kill vampires. If Vlad knew how to use it, this fight would end now.

But did I want it to end this way?

D'Ablo got up and sneered to Vlad, "You have no idea how to use it." Vlad continued to hold the weapon out, though I could see in his eyes that this was true. It left me no choice.

I tackled D'Ablo. "The back Vlad, the back!"

Vlad studied the Lucis for a second, and his eyes lit up when he found the symbol. He ran his thumb over the glyph.

For a moment, a brilliant flash blinded me.

And then there was nothing at all.


	17. Chapter 17: I Miss You

_So this is Vlad's POV since Elvira is…currently unavailable…_

The last day of school seemed so trivial to me right now. If Vi were here, she'd be psyched. She wouldn't be able to contain herself, for once.

But she wasn't here. Because of me.

"It's not your fault Vlad," I could still hear Otis telling me that when we got back home that night.

I had stroked the tattoo Otis had just given me, my vampire Mark. Tears streaked down my face. "I killed her."

"You most certainly did not," Otis reproached. "The Lucis is only deadly to vampires."

"Then where _is _she?"

I could see it clearly. I had shot a hole through D'Ablo, nearly killing him. But Vi was standing right behind him and got the full impact of the light. We looked for her, but she was gone. Completely vanished.

Otis had sighed, and his face looked a hundred years old. "I don't know, Vlad."

I glanced up at my uncle now. He gave me an understanding look.

I remembered when we went to tell Vi's guardian that she wouldn't be coming home. Her apartment had been abandoned, almost as if she had known. Maybe she had.

I sighed and looked toward Meredith. Was it shallow to still want to ask her to the Freedom Fest? After all that had happened, did I really still deserve to be happy and have fun?

_Stop making excuses, _a painfully familiar voice reprimanded me. _Go ask her out._

I froze. It couldn't be…

_Elvira? Is that you? _ I thought, feeling like a complete idiot.

_No, it's your conscience. We haven't spoken in a while._

Yep. Definitely Elvira.

_Oh my God! Are you okay? How are you-_

_Don't ask me anything, _she told me strictly. _Ask Meredith._

I fought back tears. _Vi, I'm so sorry._

_For what? Vlad, you have nothing to be sorry for._

I sniffled. _When are you coming back?_

There was a pause. _Soon._

The tattoo on the inside of my wrist glowed, as it did when a vampire, or, I suppose, an angel, touched it. A wave of confidence washed over me. I sauntered over to Meredith's desk.

"Hey," I said boldly.

Meredith turned and smiled her heart-stopping smile. "Hi, Vlad."

"So," I said, leaning on a desk in an attempt to look cool, "Do you want to go to the Freedom Fest with me?"

"I'd love to." Her eyes were alluring. I smiled so widely it hurt.

From somewhere in the back of my mind, so softly I might have imagined it, I heard Elvira's sweet chuckle.


	18. Chapter 18: Freedom

_Vlad's point of view. I'm not going to lie, I was about ready to give up on this story…but alas, I shall not!_

My hands shook as I fastened the button on my black polo. I mean, I was about to go out with Meredith. _The_ Meredith, the girl who was in my every thought, who stalked my dreams…

_Okay, calm down emo boy. Besides, she was never the _only_ girl. She still isn't, and you know it._

I tried my very hardest not to think about that. I didn't want the guilt of Elvira's disappearance to mess with my mood. Not today.

_But it _was_ your fault._

I shook my head. I couldn't think that. Elvira told me it wasn't my fault, and she wouldn't have lied to make me feel better.

_Oh, come on. You don't really believe that. For all you know, she could be dea-_

I refused to finish that thought. She was coming back. Of course she was.

_Are you sure?_

"Vlad, are you coming?" Henry called impatiently. "You can't leave a girl like Meredith waiting for long."

"Be right there," I answered, grateful for the break in my thoughts. I couldn't be depressed tonight; for once, I had somewhere to be.

We met our dates at the annual Freedom Fest dance. I barely noticed the girl Henry was with; I could only focus on Meredith. She looked stunning in a light pink sundress that matched the flower clips in her hair and her glossy lips.

I gulped. "You look wonderful."

"Thank you," she said, blushing.

_If Vi was here, she'd be wearing a black dress with her combat boots, and have way too much black makeup on her deep, soulful eyes. Maybe she'd even have that cute black bow in her soft, brown hair…_

"Why don't we go sit down?" I offered.

The rest of the night was a disaster. I pulled Meredith's chair out too far, and she fell on the floor. I spilled punch all over her dress. I even stepped on her foot while we danced. And every time I did something amazingly stupid, it was because I was thinking about Elvira.

Eventually, it was time to leave. I pulled Meredith aside.

"I'm so sorry I ruined this night for you. I can't do anything right."

She smiled and placed her hand on my cheek. I just about died. "You didn't ruin it at all. In fact, I thought you were really cute."

My mouth dropped open. "Really?"

"Yes," she paused. "And I know how hard it must be for you, since your friend just went missing. I just wanted to help."

My heart completely melted. "You have. A lot."

She smiled and closed her eyes. My heartbeat went into overdrive as I realized what she wanted. I bent down to kiss her just as a memory flashed vividly before my eyes.

_Elvira's face was overcome with realization as she called, "The back, Vlad, The back!" And as the brilliant light flashed, her eyes filled with pure terror._

_And then there was nothing._

I pulled away from Meredith. I didn't deserve this moment, and I didn't deserve her.

"I'll walk you home now," I said, and led Meredith out of the gym.

Huh, the Freedom Fest. Freedom from what, exactly?


	19. Chapter 19: Homecoming

I ran for my life.

Okay, not literally, at least not this time. It only felt as if my heart was racing from impossible exertion, my breathing labored because of the dire need to fuel my lungs, my arms pumping since my legs could not carry me fast enough.

I had seen firsthand what life or death situations were. The past few months had been full of them. It was becoming a bit routine, I'll admit. I had started to question if death would prove to be the more interesting choice.

But that was over now. I was safe; I was home. In fact I was headed toward the only place I truly missed, the one I kept fighting for, no matter the cost.

Just a few more strides now.

I rounded the corner of that wonderfully familiar road. Everybody went about their business as usual, hardly taking notice of the wild goth girl flying down the street. Not even the pretty red-haired woman looked up from her mailbox as I raced up her walkway. I smiled. She would realize I was there soon enough.

The door was unlocked, as I expected. I crept into the house quietly, slinking into the kitchen in a way that would make a ninja proud. When I peered inside, my heartbeat tripled in time. Those two boys, different as night and day (or, at least like popular kid and goth) were what made the last summer so unbelievably worth the pain it caused me.

Henry leaned toward Vlad confidentially "So, I heard that sometimes the upper class girls will take pity on the freshmen guys, and they'll-"

"What will they do, pervs?" I interjected.

Both jumped at my unexpected entrance. I liked watching their faces cloud with fear and then melt into the happiest kind of surprise I had ever seen. It was silent for a moment before the screaming started.

"OH MY GOD I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!" Henry wrapped me in a tight bear hug. I stiffened immediately, though he barely seemed to notice. After an interminable period of joyful suffocation, he handed me over to Vlad. I was startled to see that he was crying.

"Am I _that_ horrible to be around?"

Vlad shook his head and grabbed me as the tears came faster. "Oh Vi, I-I thought I killed you. I didn't think I'd ever see you again."

I gently pulled out of his embrace; the proximity was extremely uncomfortable. I hated to admit it, but the summer had changed me. This tearful reunion, Vlad's heartbroken confession, the hugs-it seemed a bit bittersweet.

But then again, I might just be a heartless freak.

He looked a bit hurt, so I placed my hand on his shoulder. "I'm back now. And trust me- I'm not going _anywhere._"

He smiled a bit and sighed. "But, when we were fighting D'Ablo last year, what happened? Where did you go?"

"Um," I said, clever as always.

"She doesn't have to answer that now," Henry interceded helpfully, "She just got back! Can't we talk about something else?"

Vlad smiled. "You're right. There's time for that later."

And there was hardly time after that, because Nelly came in and fussed over me, doting on how happy she was to have me back to take care of her boys. I smiled genuinely and told her I would, no matter what. It was a while before the three of us got to sit down and talk.

"SO," Henry began, bursting at the seams. "Guess what? My cousin, Joss, is moving down here from California! How cool will it be to _finally_ have someone to beat at video games, Vlad?"

He and I simultaneously rolled our eyes, and I asked, "How old is your cousin?"

"Our age."

"Oh," I said, feigning enthusiasm. "Cool."

Henry had to leave then, needing to help his mom with his cousin's arrival. He gave me one more hug before taking off. Vlad and I were alone for the first time in months.

I shrugged. "I better go, too. You know, unpacking and stuff."

"Elvira," he said suddenly, "You contacted me on the last day of school, right?"

"I thought that was your conscience."

He sighed. "Seriously. _How did you do that?"_

"Well," I hesitated, "My aunt was helping me develop my powers a little over the summer."

He held my gaze. "Were you in any danger?"

"No," I answered too quickly. He didn't seem to believe me.

"Because if there was something I should know, you'd tell me, right?"

I frowned. "But there isn't anything to tell. So we can all just get on with our lives and forget about it."

"Elvira-"

I cut him off. "I really have to go."

"Well this isn't the reunion I imagined." He muttered.

"Nothing's ever as good as what you imagine it to be," I sighed.

He half-smiled. "I'm glad you're back. I was worried."

I paused for a second before a wrapped him in a tight hug. He pulled his arms around me for a moment. I could hear my heart beat in time to his. Then I pulled away, and left without meeting his gaze.

As I walked away, I could hear him murmur, "What are you hiding?"


	20. Chapter 20: Bathory High

"So, have you ever met Henry's cousin?" I asked, adjusting my black bow in Vlad's hallway mirror. It was the first day of school, and I was quite proud of the outfit I had thrown together; My Black Veil Brides t-shirt coordinated nicely with my black shorts and purple-and-black striped stockings. The black combat boots added a nice touch.

Vlad shrugged and messed with his hair a bit. "We used to play together when he visited Henry, but that was a long time ago."

"You're not so thrilled with the idea of someone else in our little group, are you?" I smirked.

"Well, no," he admitted, "But as long as you're here, and safe, I'll deal."

I blushed. I wasn't used to all the attention, and I had yet to decide how I felt about it.

We hung out on his porch then and waited for the two McMillan's. I had come over earlier to psyche myself up for school, and to talk to Vlad. It had been a while, and I wanted to get filled in on everything that I had missed.

"So Otis left right after school?"

"Yeah," Vlad sighed. "That sucked, and the summer was pretty boring. But I asked Meredith to the Freedom Fest."

I chuckled. "I know. Didn't I tell you to? What happened?"

He looked down. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing."

"Bummer."

He glanced back up at me. "Well, you see, it was because…"

"Howdy neighbors!" Henry shouted.

Dammit, Henry.

I sighed and got up, and noticed who was with my friend.

I knew that Henry's cousin was from California, and so I wasn't really sure what to expect. Movie star? Surfer? Pothead? Thankfully, though, he didn't seem to be any of these. He was tall and slightly built, and had tan, healthy-looking skin. His dirty-blond hair fell in his turquoise eyes in the typical teenage boy mop hairstyle. In a jock-y, popular, beach-y kind of way, he was gorgeous. Hell, even in my way he was hot.

"This is Joss, guys! Joss, you remember Vlad, right?"

"Of course." They shook hands and his gaze found mine.

And it stayed there.

I would have never guessed that the mere look in someone's eyes could render _me_ speechless, or that a smile could make my head spin like one of those Hannah Barbarra cartoon characters. But Joss's did. There was something disconcertingly sad behind his bright features, and I wished to know why.

Oh God, did I really just think that? That isn't good.

"So, who are you?" he asked. "I know I haven't seen you before."

"Elvira Manson," I answered, coming back down to Earth.

He shook my hand. "Pretty."

I blushed and his hand stayed in mine longer than was necessary for a friendly handshake. We all started walking toward school while Henry explained that Joss had decided to visit for a school year to get away from the Californian lifestyle. He and his parents had lived all over the world, so he wanted to give Bathory a try.

"Really? I would have thought you'd get sick of moving all the time," I commented.

"Nah," he shrugged, smiling, "It gets better every time." I suppressed a smile myself.

"You must have been pretty popular. Aren't all McMillan's?" Vlad said.

Joss shook his head. "I really prefer a small, intimate group of friends." Vlad grinned, obviously approving.

We finally reached the school, an area of much gossip in the small town of Bathory. Apparently, it used to be a Catholic church, and judging from its imposing size and Gothic beauty, I could believe that. In fact, if it wasn't a school, I'd actually like going there.

Kids swarmed around Bathory High like flies. One fly in particular, Meredith Brookstone, caught the attention of both Vlad _and_ Joss. Their eyes followed her as she disappeared through the door, because, of course, Meredith is the pinnacle of what every teenage boy is missing in their lives.

Of _course_.

Melissa Hart gestured to Henry, and with a quick, "See you later," he was gone. Vlad, Joss and I were left to stare at each other, until I felt someone grab me from behind. I fought the urge to snap his neck when I saw that it was only Bill the idiot.

"Hey cutie," he said in an unpleasant, nasally voice.

"Gag me," I murmured.

Joss's calm voice came from behind us. "Get away from her."

I rolled my eyes. "I got this Joss. Just go help Vlad, please." I instinctively knew that Tom would be harassing him.

""Ooh," Bill mocked, "What're you gonna do?"

I kicked him where it counts and he went down. It always made me smile when nothing but military boots could bring a guy to his knees.

I turned around and saw Joss helping Vlad off the ground. "Thanks, man," he said.

"Um, you guys ready?" I asked. I was uncharacteristically nervous. They nodded.

And we entered the first day of the rest of our lives.


	21. Chapter 21: First Day

Vlad, Joss, and I barely made it inside the school before being swarmed by a crowd of kids. We quickly found Henry.

"Hey," he whispered, "It's a good thing you can't get killed by crosses, Vlad."

We looked around. The halls and ceiling were faintly illustrated with medieval depictions of Catholic symbolism, and crosses lined the walls. I could imagine saints with shimmering halos, disciples with scrolls, and, to my amusement, angels with flowing robes and prodigious wings among the pictures. Even so, the paint was peeling in many places, making the scene more depressing than magnificent.

"I should hope not," I smirked, pulling a slender Crucifix from around the chain on my neck. "I wear this all the time."

Vlad raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know you were Catholic."

I shrugged. "My mom was, and I keep it for her sake. I guess we all have our own ways of honoring the dead."

He grew pensive just as Joss turned around. "Did you just say your mom died?"

"Yeah; so did my dad and my brother."

"I'm so sorry," he murmured sincerely, "My little sister died, too. She was only five."

My mouth popped open. "Joss, I had no idea…"

"Well, this is a great way to start off the year," Henry muttered as we were ushered into the auditorium by our principal. I agreed with Henry; everything seemed equally unpleasant.

After a boring assembly about how we would all fail this year if we didn't get ourselves organized, I trudged to my locker. It was about as far away from all my classes as you could get, since I had applied late in the summer and there weren't any freshmen lockers left. The upperclassmen shot me looks of disapproval as I unlocked the metal door. It was as if I were trespassing on enemy territory.

Other than Vlad nearly falling asleep, first hour English was uneventful, setting the stage for the rest of the day and possibly the whole year, which was a horrible disappointment. I've always heard that high school would be the best years of my life. I guess I was raised by masochists.

By the time lunch rolled around I could barely keep my eyes open. I sat down with Henry, Vlad, and Joss, and Henry's older brother, Greg, came to mess with us for a while.

"Hey guys," he said, "Don't worry; I told everyone to lay off. I'm the only one who can shove you guys into lockers."

Henry rolled his eyes. "You're too kind."

I realized soon after that I should probably get some new friends. There was no way I could stomach four years surrounded by teenage-male conversations.

"Whoa," Henry breathed as Melissa Hart passed by, "Someone's been drinking their milk." Joss and Vlad stared after her, too, though trying to be inconspicuous about it. All I could do was crank the music and try not to gag.

I snored through the last few classes, and practically sprinted to the door at the final bell. However, I was stopped by Bill and Tom, who were harassing Vlad again. This time, they attempted to shove him into a locker. Bill saw me and handed my friend to Tom, who proceeded to "finish the job".

"You just keep coming back, don't you?" Bill said flirtatiously. I cringed.

"Yeah," Tom muttered, still holding Vlad against a locker, "Like a bad lunch that you just can't keep down." A muffled "Gross" came from Vlad.

I placed my hands on my hips. "What's it gonna take for you two to stay away from my friend?"

Bill grinned. "You could keep me company tonight."

I raised my leg as if to kick him again when I felt a strong hand on my shoulder. I turned around. _Joss._

"You two didn't forget our little talk, did you?" His voice was calm, but there was a ferocious glint in his eyes. My heart picked up a little.

"Step aside," Bill warned, "This freshman is about to enter the organ donor program."

But before Bill could say anything further, Joss grabbed his wrist and twisted it behind his back, pinning the jerk against a locker.

"Listen to me," he said menacingly, "Do that to Vlad one more time and I'll break your arms, got it? And if you so much as touch-no, _look_ at Elvira," he pushed Bill harder, "You'll have a lot more than _that_ to worry about." He let the jerks go.

M eyes practically popped out of my skull. "Wow, that was awesome, Joss. Thank you."

"Yeah, man. That was great," Vlad agreed, a bit awkwardly.

Joss shrugged, though obviously pleased. "It was nothing."

"It was _everything_," I assured him, a little too dotingly. He gave me a warm smile.

"So," Vlad broke in, "Want to hang at my place?"

I sighed. "I really can't. Have to help Aunt Kendra at her store."

"That's too bad. Want a walk home?"

"Nah, I'm sure I can manage." I noticed that Joss actually seemed disappointed at that, so as I walked away I turned back and added. "But it was nice to meet you, Joss." A grinned stretched across his handsome face.

And it matched the one on mine.

_I haven't updated for a while…so sorry about that! I hope this makes up for it. And of course, thank you all so much for your wonderful reviews! You have no idea how cheesily happy they make me_

_And speaking of that….If you're looking for a story to read, please check out sairiotana's (I hope I'm spelling that right!) story, For His Safety, For My Love. Please send her your love and reviews!_

_And of course, thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU for reading!_


	22. Chapter 22: Movie Vision

Remember what I said about needing new friends? Well that just leap-frogged to the top of my to-do list. Try spending two hours in a mall listening to Vlad reading, and then sharing, the thoughts of every decent-looking girl who passed by to Henry. I was just glad they didn't know that _I_ could read minds, too. They'd never leave me alone.

"Ooh, what about that brunette over there?" Henry suggested. I groaned and spaced out while my vampire friend rummaged around in her head. He brought me back with a shriek.

"What? What was she thinking?" Henry asked.

Vlad shook his head. "Man, you don't want to know."

I smiled. "That's what you get."

"Henry!" An enthusiastic shout reached us. We turned to find Stephanie Brawn and a few of the other Populars behind us. I groaned, hoping to God that Henry would ignore them and we could get into the theater before _Psycho Slasher Chain-Saw Guy From Hell _sold out. But my prayers seemed to be ignored.

Henry slapped Vlad on the back. "Back in a sec."

We stared open-mouthed as our friend ditched us.

"You think you know a guy," Vlad muttered. "We're going to completely miss the movie."

I shook my head and glanced over his shoulder. "Um, would you kill me if I ran to the music shop? I'm sorry, but I have to get My Chemical Romance's new CD."

He stared at me incredulously for a second and sighed. "Go."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

I sprinted to the store and secured the CD, only to be stopped by a cute goth kid with flyers.

"Hey!" he said energetically, "I couldn't help but notice you. Maybe you'd be interested in this?" He handed me a poster.

I studied it. It announced a new club that was just opening. _The Crypt._ I shrugged. "It's got a nice ring to it."

"I know! Will you come?"

I smiled, but shook my head. "A nightclub doesn't really seem like my kind of scene."

"Well, think about it, okay? We could use some fresh blood down there." We both chuckled and he left with a wave.

I smiled. For once, I was noticed in a positive way, instead of just as another rebellious teenager. It felt oddly empowering, and I walked back to the guys with a bounce in my step.

My peppiness was cut short. Henry was ignoring Vlad, and I could feel the tension rolling off them in waves. "Something the matter?"

Instantly, I saw the scene before played out in each of their minds. Vlad had used mind control to make Henry flick a booger at the popular crowd. Though it was unbelievably callow, I giggled to myself. They looked at me oddly, but I shrugged it off. "Let's just get the tickets, then."

Three tickets, fifty bucks, and a gross amount of food later, we filed into the theater. I sat in between Henry and Vlad, acting as the mediator. The lights went down and the screen showed a teenager running through a forest. For a second my vision blurred, and I blinked. When I could see again, the picture on the screen had changed. The boy was no longer a nameless actor-it was Vlad.

My best friend ran frantically, and instead of watching on a screen, it seemed as if I was actually there. I turned, and a shadow appeared from the trees. I couldn't tell who it was in the dark, but my heart sped up at the sight of him, with a sick feeling of betrayal and dread. He caught up to Vlad, grabbed him, and raised a wooden stake. I screamed, and the sound brought me back to the present.

It seemed as if the rest of the theater screamed along with me, and I barely noticed the hardcore action on the screen. My mind was blank; I could only replay the scene I had imagined in my head over and over. Yet, _had_ I only imagined it? It wasn't…no. I couldn't have seen the future. Not a future like that.

We got out of the movie two hours later, and I couldn't concentrate on what my friends were saying.

"Earth to Vi," Henry said impatiently, "Our ride's here." I looked up to find his brother, Greg, walking toward us with an endearing smile on his face.

"Didn't _Spy Guy 009: Die Again Tomorrow Forever_ get out a half hour ago?"

"Yeah, but we didn't see it," Vlad beamed, "We saw _Psycho Slasher Chainsaw Guy From Hell_!"

Greg nodded his approval. "Saw it last week. The scene with the hedge clippers? Brutal. Let's go."

I liked Greg a lot, but not even his sense of humor or boisterous laugh (or face, for that matter) could bring me out of my stupor. I looked at Vlad. He seemed so happy, so vulnerable, that I just couldn't bear the thought of anything bad happening to him. And I refused to let it.

When Greg dropped me home, I thanked him and whispered to Vlad, "Be careful, okay?"

He looked at me oddly before they pulled away. I ran up to my apartment. I needed answers.


	23. Chapter 23: Aunt Kendra

I quickly unlocked the door to my apartment and burst inside. My aunt was sprawled on the couch, sipping tea and intently focused on a book.

"Hey Aunt Kendra." She isn't technically my aunt, and it's kind of a long story.

My Dad lived in America, but he went to study abroad in Romania in his senior year of college. As fate would have it, my mother lived there as well, she in her sophomore year. They quickly fell in love, though my mother was a clairvoyant and many others had found her crazy. They planned to marry as soon as possible. However, her parents disapproved, and refused to give up their daughter to a foreigner. So, rather than be apart, my parents fled to America.

There, my father moved back in with his parents, wanting to finish college, get a job, and make a proper home before marrying my mom. His neighbor, Kendra, offered to host my mom in her home. Kendra was completely superstitious, almost magical herself, and acted as my mom's mentor, helping her with her ability to see the future. They became closer than family, and stayed near each other even after my parents got married five years later. A year later, the Stokerton Vampire council recruited Mom, and, after five years, she had my brother, Collin. She was thirty by then, and I was born when she was thirty-eight. When they died, she was forty-seven, Dad was forty-nine, and Collin was seventeen. I was nine.

I went to live with Kendra, which turned out to be the best thing that could have happened, in my circumstance. She was brilliant and understanding, kind and wise. She knew the whole Angel-of-Death-legend deal, and believed in it 100 percent. It was nice to be honest with the person I lived with.

She smiled warmly and pulled me onto the couch beside her. She was at least sixty-five, and still strikingly beautiful. Her bright green eyes were crinkled with laugh lines, and her long gray hair framed her high cheekbones. She dressed in brightly colored, flowing robes.

"How was your day, dear?"

I fidgeted. "Weird."

She smiled knowingly. "Does it have something to do with the boy you were with?"

"What?" I stammered. "N-no. Well, I mean, it kind of does, but not in the way you think."

She cocked an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Well, you see, I, um, think that, maybe, I could have, possibly, seen the future."

The light amusement vanished from Kendra's eyes. "What did you see?"

I told her how the scene flickered and changed to show Vlad's death. She listened intently, and when I was done I waited for her to give me advice. A strategy to save him. An inkling of an idea. Something.

"You know," she said carefully, "Visions can be interpreted incorrectly. Seeing someone's death could just signal an end to something, like a career, a move, or even a relationship."

"So, Vlad's not going to die?"

She looked down. "It's hard to say. Maybe you two will just grow apart."

"Grow apart?" I exclaimed. "I have a vision of someone stabbing Vlad and you think he and I will just_ grow apart?_"

She covered my hand with hers. "These things happen, dear. And it would explain why you couldn't tell who the person was. You don't know what will come between you two."

"But a violent, _stabbing_ death?"

"These things can be painful." Kendra's eyes flooded with concern. I stared at her, horrified.

"And there's nothing I can do about it?"

"Oh, honey, I wouldn't worry about it," she gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. "The future isn't set in stone. And you are new at this. Perhaps you saw something wrong. It's quite common."

"I hope I saw the whole thing wrong!"

Kendra laughed, all tension melting. "Perhaps you did. But I am so proud of you. Your first vision! It calls for celebration."

Although I wasn't in the celebratory mood, I let her fuss over me, but I couldn't fall asleep later that evening. All I see was the look on Vlad's face and the wooden stake.


	24. Chapter 24: Halloween

_So I haven't had Vlad's point of view in a while, and I figured you all might enjoy it._

It was Halloween again, and the only thing that could top last year's ingenious vampire costume was the fear all living creatures shared-_death._

"Awesome costume, dude!" Henry exclaimed when he and Joss came in.

I smiled at Henry's zombie outfit, complete with rotting flesh, but I couldn't figure out what Joss was wearing. "I thought you were dressing up too, Joss."

"Go on, tell him what you're supposed to be," Henry sighed.

His cousin spoke like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I'm an anthropologist."

"See? How am I supposed to get Melissa to dance with me if my cousin's an anthropologist?"

Joss smiled. "Maybe she'll think anthropologists are hot."

Before, I could comment, the doorbell rang, undoubtedly Elvira. But I wasn't exactly sure who was standing in front of me when I opened the door.

I figured Vi would go all out for the holiday-chains, heavy makeup, fake blood, the whole thing-but that was not the case. The girl at the door was delicate, feminine, and completely, unbelievably lovely. Instead of the harsh black makeup she usually sported, her eyes were covered in a soft brown, her lips in a light pink. Her skin had a healthy looking glow, and her brown hair waved down her back. The dress she wore was low cut and tightly fitted at the top, and flowed out in a long pink and gold skirt. A tiny tiara reposed on her head.

"Oh my God," I breathed, "You're a princess."

She chuckled, but even that sounded un-Elvira-like. Too tinkling, too light to compare to her normal, uncontrollable laugh.

She stepped inside, and both Joss _and_ Henry gaped. I had come to expect Joss's stares, but Henry's were a bit concerning. Even Nelly came in and gushed over how great Elvira looked.

"Wow, I mean, I figured you'd be something super scary, but this, this…" Henry trailed off. That was bad. I'd never seen any girl make him speechless.

"Are you kidding?" she exclaimed jokingly, sounding more like my friend, "This was the scariest thing I could think of. But, come on, this falters in comparison to Joss's costume. An anthropologist? Genius!"

Joss pumped his fist in the air. "I told you it was a good idea!"

I rolled my eyes, yelled goodbye to Nelly, and we set off for the party.

"So," Vi said as we were walking, "What are you supposed to be?"

I smiled broadly. "Death."

I anticipated a gasp of mock terror or at least a chuckle, but I got neither. She just looked at me very sullenly and murmured, "That's not what it looks like." When I raised an eyebrow, she only shook her head.

We arrived at the party, and my heart stopped. The beautiful, dazzling Meredith was a sparkly devil. She wore a tight-fitting red dress and glittery horns. She looked so breathtaking, in fact, that Joss had the nerve to go up to her and smile, who in turn smiled at Henry as he dragged his cousin away. I fumed silently.

"Next year," I muttered, "I'll just save everyone the trouble and come as the invisible man."

Vi snorted. "You and me both."

Loud music banged from the speakers in Matt's basement. Black and orange streamers and balloons filled the room, leaving just enough space to dance or hang out. Joss and Henry seemed to be at ease, but Vi and I were not really party people. After about an hour, the two McMillan's disappeared into the crowd. I silently wished I were surer that Henry and I were truly friends, and that it wasn't based entirely on the fact that he was my drudge.

"All this partying is starting to get to me," I yelled to Vi over the music. "Want to go outside?"

She looked relieved. "Please."

We stepped out into the crisp night air. I looked over at Elvira and was taken by surprise. Out underneath the full moon, she vaguely glowed, like she did before she changed into an angel. She really seemed at home here in the night, like I did, and that only reminded me further that neither of us really belonged here. Not with mortals, anyway.

She raised an eyebrow. "What are you thinking about?"

I shrugged. "It's just a really clear night."

"Yeah," she said, gazing up at the sky, "Too bad it's so cold."

I only then realized that her dress was pretty thin and the sleeves only reached her elbows. Goosebumps lined her arms.

I took her hands in mine. "Wow, you're freezing."

She stared up at me with those huge brown eyes, her face as pale as the moon. Her grip tightened around my fingers, and her lips curled into a small smile. I was prepared to stay like that for a while when we heard a gasp and a muffled, "Excuse me."

I turned around. Eddie Poe.

"I think I'll go inside now," Vi whispered. She let go of my hands and, with a nod to Eddie, vanished inside the house, leaving me without a single coherent thought.


	25. Chapter 25: Closet Controversy

_And back to Elvira's point of view…_

I ran back into the party, cheeks flushed, though not from the cold. Leave it to Eddie Poe to ruin a perfectly nice evening! Though you couldn't help but feel bad for the kid; he was even more of an outcast than I was.

I stayed by the punchbowl to calm my pounding heart and tried not to think about what just occurred. Holding hands with Vlad was…_nice._ Nicer than it should have been. I mean, he was just my friend. Almost like a brother, though less annoying and generally easier to get along with. And I already had a brother. One who was now dead because of me. One who could have _done _something with his life, but was taken away too young. And it was my fault. It would always be _my fault_.

I didn't need a brother. So what did I need? A friend? But I had Henry for that. Henry and…Joss?

Joss was just another person I had to consider. There was no denying that he was something completely different altogether. But what? What in God's name was it about him that I just couldn't seem to get out of my mind? I was about to lose it when I heard a familiar voice behind me.

"Having fun?"

I turned around and blushed. "Hey, Joss."

He smiled. "You look really pretty tonight."

"Thanks," I smirked, "You look great, too. Anyone else figure out your costume?"

"No. The people here are idiots."

I rolled my eyes. "I could have told you that."

"What?" He couldn't hear me over the music that just got significantly louder.

"I said-"

"Here, just come with me," he grabbed my hand, "We can find a place to talk."

My heartbeat picked up double-time as he pulled me along to a cramped closet. We looked at each other, shrugged, and squeezed in. I could hear the talk about us already, and somehow couldn't bring myself to care.

"Well, this is different," I commented. He laughed.

"Maybe for you." I raised an eyebrow. He shook his head. "Not important. Anyway, this party kinda sucks."

I shrugged. "Maybe if I had more friends it would be better."

"Well," he said, "Then you couldn't spend all this quality time with me."

I smirked and rolled my eyes. "Who were you hanging out with before?"

The question seemed to make him uncomfortable. "Meredith. And some of her other friends." I looked him straight in the eyes.

"Were you also hanging out in closets?"

There was a beat of silence before we both cracked up. Though it wasn't that funny.

"I wasn't laughing nearly this much," he confessed.

I tilted my head to get a better look at him. "So why do you hang out with them? I thought you said you didn't like people who were popular."

"I said I didn't like people who pretended to be someone they aren't."

"Yeah, so all the popular people."

He sighed. "How well do you even know them?"

"Not well," I admitted.

"So don't judge them."

My mouth dropped open and I resisted the urge to smack him. "Why shouldn't I judge them when all they do is judge me? They never bothered to know me before they called me Satanic, or evil, or weird. Why do I have to put up with it and then assume that they really are nice people, when they never gave me a chance? Why should I give _them_ one, then?"

He seemed a bit taken back by my speech, but then shrugged. "Because you shouldn't let stupid things get to you. Let it go; I know you're the better person."

That brought me up short; I hadn't expected a compliment. Something really weird came over me at that moment, and I gazed into his deep blue eyes. Had they always been that lovely? The rational part of my brain shut down as I slowly leaned toward him…

Outside the door, we could hear kids stampeding up the stairs. I quickly moved away from Joss, blushing like crazy, and he led me out of the closet and up into the kitchen.

I silently berated myself on my stupidity. What _was_ that? When did I become the kind of girl that (almost) makes out with guys in closets? No matter how funny, or charming, or cute they are…

Oh my God, what is happening to me?

My self-pity ended as soon as we saw Vlad holding an ice pack to his face. My heart dropped. He had been hurt. I had just had a vision of him dying, for glob's sake, and what do I do to protect him? Oh, yeah, sneak around behind his back with Joss.

Good plan, Vi.

I knelt by my friend. "What happened?"

"Bill and Tom were just being their charming selves," he sighed. "But I handled it."

My relief was nearly palpable; at least it wasn't some stake-wielding lunatic. Still, I was severely disappointed in myself, fist for not helping Vlad, and second for missing an awesome fight. But I digress.

"I can't believe they'd pull something like that," Joss muttered.

I noticed Henry was in the room when he asked, "Where were you two, anyway?"

Joss and I exchanged glances. "We were just…talking." Joss said.

Henry snorted. "Oldest cover in the book. _I_ would know. Seriously, I expect this kind of behavior from my cousin, but _Elvira_? Tsk tsk. How very un-princess like, sneaking around with boys."

"Shut up!" I snapped. "What gives you the right to say that? Of all people!"

"Okay, calm down," Vlad intervened. "He was only kidding."

I looked at Vlad. He seemed kind of…sad. Hurt.

"Are you okay? Did they hurt you?"

He shook his head. "I'm fine."

I didn't really believe him, and was about to call him on it when Matt and his mom walked in.

"Vlad?" she said, "Your aunt just got here."

He sighed and got up, pounding fists with Henry and Joss, and nodded to me without meeting my gaze. What was his problem?

Matt shook Vlad's hand. "Sickest fight I've ever seen, dude. See you at school." With that, my friend disappeared.

"Is he mad at you?" Henry asked.

I shrugged. "I can't imagine why."

And it wasn't until I was halfway home that I realized the truth: Once Eddie Poe showed up, I pretty much ditched Vlad to hang out with Joss. And he might have thought I had planned that. I was horrified at myself but I couldn't deny it.

I had picked Joss over Vlad.


	26. Chapter 26: Lunch

It had been a few weeks since Halloween, and Vlad and I had not hashed things out yet. It wasn't like we weren't speaking, but I still felt awkward around him, like he was waiting for me to explain what happened at the party. And since I still hadn't figured it out yet, we were at a standstill.

Although, it bothered me that Vlad would act all hurt that I left him to hang out with Joss, but he could still stare at Meredith everyday. I could care less about that under any other circumstances, but right now I was feeling a bit…conflicted. Unsure, but not at all jealous. Me, jealous? Never.

"I'm telling you, there's no way Stephanie's sister's a better kisser than Stephanie," Joss argued amiably with Henry.

"Hey, we've been talking about this ever since you made out with her two weeks ago, instead of going to detention. Stephanie's great and all, but her sister? Even two years younger…" Henry trailed off.

Joss raised an eyebrow. "Okay, what exactly makes her better?"

Henry grinned. "Tongue."

Even the seniors sitting near us guffawed at that. But for the last few weeks, I had silently fumed, repulsed by their "Hot Girl Debates". And you know what? I was sick of it. I slammed my fist against the table.

"Alright, I've had enough of this. I honestly can't take anymore of your stupid conversations. Save the perverted comments for some place else! Do you forget that I'm a girl, too? That it insults me to hear about how many girls you've kissed and then ditched in the back of the school? It doesn't make you awesome, or cool, or whatever you think you gain out of it. It's wrong, and you should be ashamed of yourselves."

Both their faces fell, and the chortling seniors shut up. I grabbed my water bottle, book, and iPod, and left without a word. After stalking out of the lunchroom I heard footsteps after me. I didn't have to turn around to know it was Vlad. I smiled to myself as he caught up to me, and we continued walking in silence.

It was funny; ever since I came back at the end of the summer, Vlad had been extremely nice to me. Well, nicer, anyway. He would save seats for me at lunch and study hall, shake me awake when I fell asleep during class, even leave positive comments on my crappy FanFiction stories (He wasn't hard to figure out; his anonymous username was "VampireSmileyDude"). I hoped he wasn't trying to make up for last year, because standing in front of that blinding light was _my_ choice, and he needn't feel guilty for it. And I liked to think that he did those things just to be nice, not because he felt he had to.

We walked outside, found a bench, and sat down.

"You didn't have to come," I said.

He shrugged. "You're not the only one that gets tired of those two. They just get caught up in stupid things sometimes."

"I know, but still, it bothers me to think about what they talk about. I mean, what's the point of kissing someone just to compare it to something else? I mean, I thought it was supposed to be…oh, I don't know. Special, I guess."

"Well," he sighed, "I don't know either. It's not like I've ever kissed anyone."

I raised an eyebrow. "Um, are you forgetting Carrie Anderson last year at the Snow Ball?"

"That was more of an assault than a kiss."

I laughed. "Still more action than I ever got."

He looked at me strangely and was quiet for a minute. "But at the party, didn't you and Joss…?"

"NO!" I shouted, a little too defensively, "Nothing like that! I swear, we were just talking. And I felt so horrible when you got into that fight and I wasn't there. I mean, you handled it yourself, but still, I-I should have been there to back you up. It's what friends do."

He gave me a small smile and shook his head. "Vi, you don't have to do anything for me. After what you did last year? I could never ask anything more from you. I'm glad you had fun at the party, and I'm not mad that you left when Eddie showed up."

"But I don't want you to think that you have some quota of niceness to fill because I got myself in trouble last year. That's over and done with. Don't feel like you owe me anything because, truly, I didn't do anything that you wouldn't have done for me. It was nothing, Vlad, a no-brainer."

"No," he argued quietly, "I owe you my life. But what exactly happened after that beam of light hit you?"

Suddenly, all those terrible memories came flooding back to me: the blackness and the pain, but worst of all the nothingness that came first. The utter absence of anything tangible to hold on to, the feeling that nothing mattered enough to fight it. That no one would even care if I didn't. I shuddered, refusing to go back to that place, where nothing was real, nothing even existed. That place where death was so near I could taste it, sense it, and, easily, become it.

I hadn't even realized I was crying until I felt Vlad's arms around me. "I-I can't do it. I can't remember. Don't let me go back there!"

"Vi!" He sounded so distressed. "It's okay! It's okay! You're here with me now. It'll be okay."

I calmed down enough to realize my tears were not helping anything. I quickly covered for myself. "I'm sorry, that night just reminded me of the night my family died. I don't want to think about it." It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth. I just didn't want Vlad to think I had gone completely schitzo.

"I understand." It was all he needed to say. The concern in his eyes was enough to cover the rest of it.

I collected myself by then. "So, clever change of subject: what did Eddie want?"

Vlad's expression clouded. "Well my eyes turned that freaky purple color and he saw. Now he thinks I'm some kind of monster."

"Oh crap." An overly observant nerd with a high-def camera and a lead on Vlad's secret was seriously the last thing we needed to worry about right now.

"Yeah, but what's the worst thing he could possibly do? How can he make the world believe that I'm a vampire?"

"Half-vampire," I corrected.

"Whatever."

I was kind of a worst-case scenario person, but I decided not to mention the fact that Eddie could easily tie Vlad to a post in broad daylight (without sunscreen) and film my best friend burning to death. I really doubted he wanted to hear _that._

"Um, I don't know. I guess we just have to wait for him to get bored with it."

He sighed. "I guess. We better get back to school."

I nodded, and an old worry presented itself again. "Oh, and Vlad?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't do anything stupid. You never know who will stab you in the back."

_Haha, like my FanFiction reference? _


	27. Chapter 27: Paper Hearts

It was such an awesome morning. Literally, perfect. The only thing that could make it better would be if it were Friday.

A thin layer of pearly-gray clouds covered the sun, and the air was cold enough to wear a jacket, but warm enough that fingerless gloves seemed practical. _All It Takes For Your Dreams To Come True_ by A Skylit Drive blasted over my earbuds, and I thought the title perfectly described how I felt at that minute: like this was all I would ever need. Which was corny and stupid, because I knew that I would find something to hate about the world in about five minutes.

And the world didn't disappoint. I got to Bathory High and noticed that the entire school was oddly engrossed with the school paper. I wondered vaguely if my column about the next greatest unknown bands had gotten unbelievable appreciation with the student body. My mood was spoiled, however, when I saw Stephanie Brawn flounce up to me holding a copy. She wouldn't know good music if it came up and slapped her in the face.

"See the paper?" she asked with a smug grin. Of all the people in the world, including the ones that have tried to kill me, I have never met anyone as unpleasant as Stephanie Brawn.

"Well, I'm on the staff."

She rolled her shimmery eyes. "Then I guess you had something to do with this?"

I smirked as she handed me the paper. "Disappointed you're not on the cover?" But my face fell when I did see who _was_ on the cover-Vlad. Floating in front of the bell tower. The title read, "A Monster in Bathory? By Eddie Poe, freshmen correspondent." The article accused Vlad of being a vampire, a danger to society. I crumpled the paper in my fist.

"Eddie."

I stalked into the school and found the head manager of the paper, a short, pleasantly dorky senior called "Shorts". No idea what his real name was.

"Hey!" he greeted me brightly, "Can you believe the attention the paper is getting this morning? I bet it was your column on the local bands."

He was very nice, but I had no time for formalities. "No. I can't believe you'd let them print this!" He raised an eyebrow and took my copy. His mouth popped open.

"I did _not_ approve this story! Who does this stupid freshman think he is? He was just supposed to print out the newspaper! If I knew he would pull a stunt like this…"

"It's terrible," I agreed.

"Thanks for telling me," Shorts said, heading to the door. "I need to show Principal Hardwick this."

I waved him goodbye and met up with my friends in the hallway. Vlad looked terrified, pissed, tired, and a bit out of it.

"Vlad! I saw the paper. That kid's gonna get it, I swear."

Henry glared at me. "Aren't you on the staff?"

I glared back. "I didn't see this. Eddie added it just before the copies were printed." Henry blushed.

Vlad hit his head against a locker and muttered something.

"You're life isn't ruined," I assured him. He muttered something else. I sighed. "And you can't move away. Do you honestly believe that anyone took it seriously? C'mon, it's Eddie Poe. He's more of a loser than I am."

Just then, we heard Eddie being called to the principal's office over the loudspeaker, and the proceeding punishment. It was like a sea parting as Eddie walked out of the office. He gave us a look of determination, of defiance. I wanted to pound his head against a locker, and I would have, if not for the witnesses.

"Guys," Vlad choked out, "I think I have a problem."

I stood by Vlad's locker later that day, trying to get off the subject of Eddie's article by bringing up the Snow Ball.

"I'm _not_ going," he said, resigned.

I rolled my eyes. "Don't be such a baby because you didn't get a chance to ask Meredith out before she said yes to someone else."

"How did you…?" he shook his head. "Whatever. Do you know who she's going with?"

I sighed and searched for the pink girl in the hallway. After seeing her, I concentrated on her face and reached into her thoughts. I sifted through Justin Bieber daydreams and algebra quizzes until I found the answer. And my blood boiled.

"Joss."

He grabbed my arm. "Can you red minds?"

"Oh, I forgot to mention that?"

Vlad raised his eyebrow. "Kind of. Don't you think it's wrong to invade people's privacy like that?"

"Like the same way you and Henry messed with those girls at the mall?" I countered. He relented. "Besides, isn't it worse to go out with your best friend's crush?"

My friend slumped against a locker. "Ready for a very emo moment? My friend is going out with the love of my life, and I'm alone. And a nerd is out to expose me to the world."

"And don't forget the psycho vampire out to get you."

"Right. D'Ablo."

We were quiet for a minute. I was stuck on the fact that Meredith was the "love of Vlad's life". How many conversations had they actually had? And they went out like, what, once? I shook it away.

"So," Vlad said finally, "Who're you going with?"

I froze and scanned the hallway. "Uh…Kristoff." Yes, perfect! We worked on an English assignment last week. Not to mention the fact that he was pretty hot, with his spiky silver hair and gothic attire.

Vlad looked….concerned. "Isn't he kind of intense though?"

I laughed. "You worry too much." I waved goodbye to him and caught up with Kristoff.

"Hey," I said smiling. He narrowed his eyes.

"Hey?"

"So I was thinking," I began, trying to look cute and flirty, probably failing miserably; "Wanna go to the Snow Ball with me?"

His confusion turned to suspicion. "Why?"

I shrugged. "You have anything better to do?"

"Guess not. Who are you again?"

I rolled my eyes. "Elvira Manson. And if you even _think_ about making a Marilyn Manson comment, I will hit you."

He smirked and walked away with a "See you there."

Cool. I actually had a date this year.

Even if it wasn't the person I really wanted.

_P.s. to VampireSmileyDude...hahahahahahahaha you rock_

_And of course, so does everyone who was kind enough to review! Thanks!_


	28. Chapter 28: Gifts

_Mind if we go into Vlad's POV for this chapter? Bit of filler….sorry._

It was the night of the Snow Ball, and I was getting ready to go out.

To the bell tower to mope in peace, of course. Not to the dance. I didn't really want to be there witnessing Henry with some junior, or Vi with one of the goth kids that hung out behind the school at night. And of course, I really didn't need to see Joss and Meredith together. I didn't even want to think about it.

I grabbed some candles when the doorbell rang.

"Could you get that, sweetie?" Nelly called from the kitchen. I sighed and answered it.

I guess I should have known it would be Elvira, decked out for the ball. Her trench coat was unbuttoned to show off her dress. It was black and flowed over her knees and clung to her chest. She wore lace fingerless gloves, her red heart pendant, and high-heeled combat boots. Her eyes were covered in dark makeup. I smiled broadly.

"Vi, wow."

"You like?" she asked, twirling in a circle, "Didn't want to go overboard."

'No, it's great," I assured her. "Kristoff's a lucky guy."

Her face fell a little. "Are you sure you can't come? It won't kill you. I would know."

I opened my mouth to ask her what she was talking about, but she gave me that _I've said too much_ look that she was using much more often now. I sighed.

"No, I really don't think that would be a good idea."

"Well, I had to try anyway." Her face brightened. "Oh, but I have this for you. Since you won't be in town for Christmas." She handed me a package.

I smiled. "You didn't have to do that." I quickly ripped the paper off and laughed. It was a red and black plaid fur trapper hat.

"I figured it would be cold in Siberia." I had told her my uncle Otis was taking me to do some vampire training with his friend in Siberia. Guess she took it to heart.

I tried on the hat. "Cozy." Just then, something else fell out of the box. It was a small charm in the shape of angel wings on a simple silver chain.

"It's like a symbol for your guardian angel," she explained, "I hope it brings you luck on your trip."

I was really touched. "Wow, Vi, that's so sweet." She helped me fasten the chain around my neck.

"Just, be really careful, okay? I really need you to come back in one piece. Who else will sit with me at lunch?"

I smiled and wrapped her in a warm hug. She hesitated, but hugged me back, and, for a minute, I wasn't sure if I was going to let her go. But of course, she had to leave, because someone was actually waiting for her. Someone had permission to spend the rest of the night with her. And I don't know why it bothered me that I wasn't that person.

After we said our goodbyes, I took the long way to school, trying to let the cold air clear my head of all the messed up images I could come up with. All my friends on dates, and me alone in my tower like some screwed up fairy tale.

It's not like I was getting any action tonight.


	29. Chapter 29: ColdHearted

Elvira POV:

Ugh, I hated semi-formal dances. It wasn't just that people were making out in the middle of the dance floor, or the crappy DJ, or the fact that everyone was having more fun than I was. No. It was when my date ditched me to hook up with some girl I had never even seen before. And when I went in the hallway to calm down, what did I find? Vlad and Meredith kissing on the front steps of the school.

Thank God they didn't see me. I was having a breakdown, and since that so rarely happens, it was bad. I sprinted to the nearest darkened hallway and crumpled against some lockers to do some nice, old-fashioned wailing.

I had learned a few things today: one, never trust someone who changed their name from David to Kristoff. Second, boys suck, even the ones who aren't vampires.

But most importantly, I knew couldn't lie to myself any longer. I really, _really_ liked Vlad. Not just the friendly, comfortable way. When I saw him kissing Meredith, I wanted to destroy her. I wanted to _be_ her. I wanted to curl up and die, or something along those melodramatic lines. Long story short, I was blindingly jealous and heartbroken like only a teenage girl can be.

I didn't realize I wasn't alone until I heard Joss's voice. "Vi? Are you okay?"

I was tempted to snap at him, but I kept it under control. "No. Not at all."

"Join the club," he muttered, sitting down next to me. Then I remembered that Meredith ditched him for Vlad.

"I saw Meredith and Vlad. Guess both our dates took off on us."

"Oh, you too? Sucks, huh?"

"Yeah," I sighed, "It does."

We were quiet for a while, until Joss broke the silence. "Well, while we're here, I want to apologize for myself and my cousin. We didn't mean to offend you at lunch, we just didn't realize we upset you. We-I want you to sit with us again."

I shrugged. "You don't have to apologize, it's just…"

"What?" The concern in his eyes was touching.

"Well, after hearing about all these girls you kissed and left, I was afraid you were just going to do that to me, you know, after the Halloween party."

He grabbed my arms and turned me to face him. "No! I'd never do that! Not to you, Elvira, never to you. _If_ I had the chance to kiss you," he paused and looked away, "I wouldn't let you go."

Needless to say, I was completely taken back. I felt the same way I had at the Halloween party, but this time, I couldn't help myself. I leaned toward him and, in a very un-Elvira-like move, I whispered, "If you had the chance? Why don't you take it?"

So he did. He leaned the rest of the way toward me, and pressed his lips against mine.

Well, I had never kissed anyone before. All I could think was _Oh my God, what am I supposed to do? What did he say about tongue? It sounded kind of gross._

Luckily, Joss had more practice in that area. He wrapped his hand around my waist, and I twisted mine into his hair. We moved closer to each other.

You know that they say when you kiss someone, it feels like you're floating? Well, it didn't at all. It felt like my heart was a rocket shooting to the moon, then crash-landing back to earth. The scariest, greatest high I had ever experienced. And I didn't want it to end.

But, of course it had to. My phone rang, and we broke apart. We didn't take our eyes off each other as I answered it, my aunt, telling me she was here to pick me up. I closed the phone, and still did not break eye contact. Finally, Joss looked at his feet.

"You have to leave now?" I nodded. "Well, thank you, then. That was…"

"What we needed?" I breathed. He smiled.

"Yes. More actually."

I nodded, and took off toward the exit. Kendra's yellow punchbuggy was idling in front of the school, and I climbed in.

"Darling, you look so lovely," she gushed. "I bet some hearts were broken tonight."

I snorted. "Huh, I'll bet."

Then I paused. Sure, Vlad had kicked my heart into the ground, but couldn't I do the same to him? When he heard Joss and I kissed, he wouldn't be happy about it. So if Joss and I were actually _together_…Vlad would be jealous. Not that I wanted to use Joss, because, truthfully, I liked him. But if I got something else out of it, that wouldn't be terrible, would it? My mouth curled into a devilish smile.

Yes. That would be perfect.


	30. Chapter 30: Blue Christmas

Vlad took off after the Snow Ball for Siberia. I bet Meredith was all broken up about that. In fact, I hoped they both were. And now, I was visiting the McMillan's before they went away to a snow resort for the holidays. So no Henry, and no Joss.

No boyfriend.

I shivered as I thought that, and not from the cold. A boyfriend for Christmas. Had a nice ring to it. Sure, I was technically using him, but he didn't have to know that. And it wasn't like I was going to ditch him as soon as Vlad got jealous. So Joss gets me as a girlfriend, and I get the satisfaction of seeing Vlad's face when we walk into school together. Win-win situation.

I knocked on Henry's door, and he answered.

"Vi? What brings you here?"

I held up a package. "I figured I'd drop this off, since you wouldn't be in town this week for your birthday and Christmas."

Henry's eyes lit up and he led me to his room. I tossed him the box and he ripped it open.

"Oh my God," he breathed, "The new _Alice_ video game. This is the one where Alice is mentally disturbed and you have to go into Underland, which is really just her messed-up imagination, right?" I nodded. "But it hasn't even come out yet!"

I shrugged. "Early release."

"This is awesome! Oh, and here," he handed me a small box, "Vlad, Joss and I got this for you. I didn't pick it out, or pay for it, or wrap it, but my name's on the tag."

I smirked and opened the gift, a large pewter diamond on a long chain. I smiled genuinely. "Wow, I love it."

Henry grinned. "Not as good as last night, I bet. I heard about you and Joss."

I froze. "Oh."

"Oh?" he teased. "That's all?"

"Shouldn't you be bothering Vlad about _his_ night?" I snapped.

"Whoa, don't get all defensive."

I folded my arms. "It's not your business."

"Whatever. I figured you'd be happy."

"I don't have to _be _anything."

"Oh, what's your problem now?" he shook his head. "Ever since you got back, you've just been such a, a…"

I glared. "A what? Go ahead, say it."

"A freak!"

I turned and slammed the door. "Merry Christmas."

I ran down the stairs, but was stopped when someone pulled my arm. Joss, of course. His blue eyes twinkled and his lips were curled into a smile. For some reason, he seemed truly glad to see me.

"Hey."

I didn't let him say anything further. I just kissed him, because that seemed like the thing to do, and because I really wanted to forget my fight with Henry and my frustration with Vlad. And even though a small part of brain was yelling at me to stop using this sweet guy for my own stupid, selfish needs, I couldn't help it. I wasn't even trying to help it anymore. When we broke away, he gave me the most sincere smile I had ever seen, and there was a guilty, sinking feeling in my stomach. He didn't notice.

"Merry Christmas, Vi."

_And Merry Christmas to all of you guys…I hope Sandy Claws brought you everything you wanted! Have a great day even if you don't celebrate the holiday!_


	31. Chapter 31: We Love Like Vampires

Even in the dark of the night, I could see Joss silhouetted against the moonlight. My heart sped up, leaving me gasping for air.

"Joss!" I called, knowing he could hear me in the night's silence. Still, he did not turn to acknowledge me. I called again, but he walked on. Losing patience, I ran up and grabbed his shoulder. "What's your problem?"

"My problem?" he said, turning to face me. I gasped. D'Ablo was staring at me in Joss's place. "Why, it's you."

And he raised a dagger to kill me.

I woke up in my own bed, panting and sweating. I ran my hand through my bangs and tried to quiet my breathing. My heart pounded in my ears.

Another horrible vision, this time with D'Ablo. Maybe he was the mysterious man in the first vision? But I knew that couldn't be so. There was no reason for me to feel betrayed or heartbroken toward D'Ablo; he killed my family. And I knew he would have no reason to stop hunting me.

What really bothered me was Joss's involvement in the vision. I didn't want him anywhere near D'Ablo. The premonition gave me a horrible thought: what if the evil vampire used Joss to get to me? I knew it would work, and that terrified me.

Then I realized with a start that Vlad was supposed to be coming home that day. I pulled the covers over my head. It had been easy over the past week to be away from him; I could be mad at him and heartbroken and miserable in peace. But I wouldn't be that way around Vlad. I would ignore him, and secretly watch my relationship with Joss eat away at him. And I hoped with a vengeance that it did.

But even more than that, I didn't want to see Vlad and Meredith together. I'd deny it with my life, but it was true.

And adding to the list the fact that Joss's life might be on the line? I was becoming a basket case.

It was fine just sitting in my room for another hour, staring at the ceiling. I hear this can foster the birth of ideas. Unfortunately, it didn't help at all. I still had no answers to my problems, and likely wouldn't come up with some anytime soon.

I finally decided to get out of bed, resolving to visit Joss. He and his family got back the day before, but I had been avoiding the McMillan household ever since my fight with Henry. It wasn't like _I_ was about to apologize, and I knew he wouldn't, either. I pulled on my clothes and wondered if anything was going right in my life now.

Walking to the McMillan's, I decided it was clearly a Simple Plan moment. With _Welcome To My Life_ blaring on my earphones, I trudged through the familiar street and up the walkway. The doorbell was drowned out by my music and I silently prayed that Henry wouldn't answer the door. Thankfully, he didn't.

His rather attractive cousin did.

"Vi!" Joss exclaimed, wrapping me in a tight hug. My worries quickly subsided as I leaned my head on his chest. _Vlad who?_ I thought dreamily.

When we finally broke apart, I smiled at him. It was nice to know that a psycho vampire hadn't gotten to him yet. "How was your vacation?"

He returned the smile. "I'll tell you all about it! Come inside?"

"Uh,"

"Oh, right," he said quickly, "You and Henry. We can go for a walk."

I beamed. "Sure." He led me down the walkway and through the streets, intertwining my fingers with his. I subtly scanned the vicinity for any vampire, blood-drinking, murderous types. He told me about his trip, recalling all of the details of Henry's embarrassing encounter with twins.

"So, he wants to impress these girls right? Well, of course he has to go to the hardest hill. 'Let's do the Black Diamonds, Joss.' _I_ can't even do that one, so I don't know what _he_ was thinking. Anyway, he turns to the hill, and flat out_ falls_. Right on his face! Needless to say, he went without the snow bunnies."

I laughed. Not so much at the story, just the fact that I had something to laugh about, and that I had someone who cared enough to try make me. It felt so good.

"So," I said slyly, "Those girls were cute?"

He stopped, smiled at me, and twirled me around so he hugged me close to him. "Not as much as this one girl I know."

His words left a fuzzy feeling in my stomach, and I stood on my tiptoes to kiss him. He wrapped his arms around my waist, and I pulled his face closer to mine. I didn't notice where we were until a familiar car barreled down the street. I pulled away from Joss, and watched as Vlad climbed out.

What nice timing.

"Maybe we should go," Joss murmured, obviously seeing the same thing.

"No, no, I'll just go say hi." With that, I sauntered across the street and leaned on Otis's car. Vlad didn't really look surprised, probably because he saw Joss and I. Perfect.

"Huh, back in one piece?" I smirked.

"Um," He looked kind of stupefied, or just stupid, "Yeah. Are you and Joss…?"

I raised an eyebrow. "It bothers you?"

"Well, just…when did that happen?"

From the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of pink. Oh, there could not have been better timing if I had planned this out! I gestured toward Meredith with my head.

"Same time _that_ did." With another smirk, I walked back to Joss.

"How's Vlad?" he asked awkwardly. I just smiled and twisted my hand into his.

"Fine." Joss smiled back, and we walked along. I threw one dreamy goodbye wave to Vlad, not knowing whether or not he saw it.

I wouldn't have cared if he didn't.

_Happy New Year everyone! I happened to be listening to We Love Like Vampires by Sparks The Rescue while writing this, which is where the title came from._

_Thanks to everyone who reviews! You're the best._


	32. Chapter 32: Something's up with Vi

_How 'bout we see what Vlad makes of this whole thing?_

Meredith gave me a small wave as she sat down across the lunchroom. I sighed. Just the kind of pick-me-up I needed. Trying to ignore the fact that Elvira-who was supposed to be _my_ best friend-was dating Joss was starting to get to me. And he was supposed to be my _guy_ friend. And he was messing everything up! First, he goes out with Meredith-my secret love-and breaks the number one rule of the Guy Code: _Though shall not date the girl of his best friend's dreams._ And best friends are _definitely_ not supposed to date another best friend! Vi wasn't even talking to me anymore, and I couldn't help thinking that Joss brainwashed her somehow. Why else would she ignore me? Had she…moved on? Found better company? Better because of her (_gulp_) boyfriend?

I watched them now, sitting alone at their own private table. They were laughing at something. Must have been pretty funny, too-I hadn't seen Vi tilt her head back and laugh like that in a while. Actually, not since she came back at the end of the summer. My heart sank to the bottom of my stomach, where it settled in an uncomfortable lump.

She was better off without me, I guess. She didn't need me anymore.

Honestly, I really didn't think she ever needed me, but I liked to think that she liked to be around _me_. That we were good friends, who didn't just _leave_ each other when we found someone better. I mean, who _does_ that? _I_ never would.

Oh God, Meredith just winked at me! Uh, what was I thinking about? Oh right, Vi. Totally ditched us for no reason. That's messed up.

"Do you know what's up with Vi?" I asked Henry. He snorted.

"She's just crazy. Here one day, making out with my cousin the next. I should've known this would happen sooner or later."

I raised an eyebrow. "Did something happen between you two?"

"Doesn't matter," he muttered, "We're better off without her."

I shook that off, deciding to worry about that later. I gave Meredith a wave and she laughed. And out of the corner of my eye, I saw Vi kiss Joss on the cheek. I could have sworn that her gaze fluttered to mine for an instant, but I might have imagined it.

Something was happening between us, but I just couldn't figure it out. And I secretly wondered if we were ever going to get the old Vi back, or if this had been who she really was all along.


	33. Chapter 33: Have Faith in Me

_Okay, I've had the worst writer's block on this chapter, but I finally got it done. Back to Elvira!_

Vlad and I hadn't spoken in a few weeks. I tried to make it look like it hadn't gotten to me, but in reality, I was a mess. Everyday I woke up and thought, _how much longer are you really going to keep this up?_ And I knew the answer: I wasn't going to do anything about our silence. If Vlad wanted to talk to me, he would have to be the one to break the ice.

Though I have to admit, I wasn't sure what I was trying to accomplish anymore. At first, all I wanted to do was hurt my friend. Make him jealous, like I was. Make him pay.

But I realized that, at least with Meredith, Vlad was happy. He had wanted her for so long, and now that they were together, he was floating on air. Until, of course, he saw Joss and I walk by. The look in his eyes…he missed me. And what's worse, I missed him.

God, how I wished I had thought this through! My plan had worked for a while, but now I was sad again. So the whole thing was kind of counterproductive. And the only way out of it that I could see, considering Vlad wasn't going to approach me, was to apologize. Throw myself at his mercy. Beg, if necessary.

The realization left a bad taste in my mouth. I knew I wasn't going to do that. I'd rather fight off a psychotic vampire than admit I was wrong. It just wasn't my thing.

And waking to school that day, I knew I wasn't going to make it. I couldn't spend another day there, avoiding Vlad and Henry, trying to pay attention to my classes, doing everything I could not to let my mind drift to forbidden subjects…Not happening. I found Joss and pulled his hand.

"Let's skip today."

He raised an eyebrow, but his eyes sparkled with anticipation. "Seriously?"

"Why not?" I shrugged. "There's nothing important here for us anyway."

His lips spread in a devilish grin and we snuck around to the back of the school. After first bell, we sprinted off campus until we reached town. We looked at each other, laughed, and held hands. My previous despair melted away, and Joss led me to the park.

"This has to be the best idea you've ever had," Joss said, beaming.

I smiled, but looked away. "Well, it definitely isn't the worst."

He stared at me thoughtfully for a moment. "You know, I haven't been completely honest with you."

"Oh?" I tried to hide the shock and guilt that was building up in my stomach.

"Yeah, you see…" he paused, searching for the right words. "Never mind, you won't believe me."

I snorted. "You'd be surprised what I believe."

"Well, you may not like it."

"Try me."

He sighed. "Okay, you see, there are a ton of myths in the world. Just stories meant to entertain people and scare kids. None of them are real, right?"

I gulped. "Of course."

"That's what you're supposed to think. And Vi, I know this sounds crazy, but please, hear me out. They're _not_ just stories. It's all real."

"So are you, like, a werewolf?" I joked, though a sickening feeling rose up in my stomach and threatened to choke me.

"I'm being serious!" He was practically shaking me at this point. "There are such things as monsters! And…_vampires._"

Oh crap. Oh crappy crap. He couldn't be telling me he was a vampire. I'd literally lose my mind if one more person in my life turned out to be a mythical creature from Transylvania…

"But," he continued, "There are also vampire slayers. That's what I do, Vi. I'm a vampire slayer."

?

?

!

There really aren't words for what I felt when he said that. Like I was a wet towel that someone had wrung out, and all that was left of me was a damp lump.

Er, something like that.

"Vi, I know that this is hard to take in, but-"

"Get away from me."

His face crumpled, and he reached for me. "Vi?"

"Don't touch me!" I screamed, jerking away from him. "Don't ever talk to me again! You're crazy, okay? Forget all about us. You're crazy!"

A tear made its way down his cheek. "Please don't do this."

"Leave me alone!" I turned away from him and ran back to school. I could barely see through the stream of tears running down my face. The worst part of this situation wasn't that Joss was a vampire slayer. Or that I hadn't seen this coming. Or even that he might try to kill Vlad. The worst was that I think I had started to fall in love with him. I had let myself become so vulnerable that my feelings for Joss had given me a weakness. And Vlad might die for it.

The vision, and that dream…it hadn't been a mystery man. D'Ablo hadn't tried to get to me through my boyfriend. It was Joss all along. I had been too caught up to see the truth. I cried harder.

When I finally got back to the school, the principal was waiting for me, detention slip in hand.

"Miss Manson, you better have a good excuse for skipping your classes today."

I sniffled. "No sir."

He seemed taken back, as if he had expected a cheeky reply. His features softened as he took in my tear-streaked face. "Well, you'll have to serve detention for the next two Saturdays."

I nodded, grabbed the slip, and fled down the hallway as the bell rang. Kids poured out of classrooms, and I scoured the crowd for Vlad. He was headed toward his locker. I caught up with him and spun him around. The surprise on his face quickly mixed with anger.

"Vi."

That hit me a bit. I hadn't heard him say that in a while, and it sounded good. I shook it off and panted. "Vlad, Joss is a _vampire slayer._ I don't know, how, or why, but I do know that we can't stick around much longer." His expression didn't change, and my mouth dropped open. "This is the part where we run, stupid!"

"I already know he's a slayer," Vlad said passionlessly.

It felt like an electric shock fired through my body. _"What?"_

"You heard me."

"So you didn't bother to tell me I was dating a _slayer?_" I spit out. "How could you? How long have you known?"

He shrugged. "Yesterday. But it's fine. I don't need help from you, even if you were my friend."

"I'm _trying_ to be your friend!" I exclaimed.

He shook his head. "Bull. Friends don't ignore each other for no reason."

I grit my teeth. "No. Reason?"

"Like I said, I can take care of myself." With that, he turned to leave. I took his arm again.

"Vlad," I pleaded. I wasn't the pleading type, so this was bad. "Please don't do this alone. You can't. You'll die!"

"So, what does it matter to you?"

My jaw dropped. I looked away and swallowed the tears. "Wow. _Wow._ You know what? Fine. Die!" I shoved him against a locker. "See if I care!"

I left him then, cursing silently and trying my hardest not to sob. I walked into my next class without any books, and sat in the back. I was numb. I could only think about how I had just lost two of the most important people in my life. And if I didn't do anything soon, I might lose them both forever.

Final bell rang, and I trudged outside to sit on the curb. After a while, I saw two familiar figures out of the corner of my eye. Vlad and Joss. As soon as they were out of sight, I grabbed my backpack and followed them at a safe distance.

There was no way anything was going down without me.


	34. Chapter 34: Backstabber

For some reason, Joss and Vlad were headed toward the woods on the outskirts of town. I couldn't bear to think how close this was to the site of Mr. Craig's death last year. He was a teacher I had never known, and now I never would. Pushing bad thoughts aside, I crept a bit closer to the place my two friends had stopped. I could her them talking.

"Get down, man!" Vlad exclaimed, "You see that guy? He's the vampire that attacked me!" I froze, hoping like hell Vlad did not say what I _think_ he just said.

Joss snorted. "Oh, please. That's D'Ablo. He hired me."

Ice shot through my veins, and I quickly covered my mouth. If there was a swear word adequate for this situation, I would have screamed it. My head was spinning, and I realized with a start that the evil vampire, who already killed off my family, was about to take two more people away from me that I loved. So deeply, in fact, that my anger and frustration with them was momentarily forgotten. I wanted to fight, to destroy something, but I couldn't move now, knowing I at least had surprise on my side.

And I was too terrified to do anything.

"Vladimir Tod," D'Ablo cooed, "We meet again. And with your slayer friend! How _very_ interesting."

Damn you to hell, D'Ablo.

"This should work out rather nicely."

I could hear Vlad whisper, "Joss, do you still have that stake?" I peered at them from around the tree where I was cowering. I saw it in Joss's face: he wasn't on Vlad's side. Not anymore.

"Yeah, I do." And he pulled it out, aiming for Vlad's heart.

Time to act.

But did I bother helping Vlad, who was in the most immediate danger? Did I slap the stupid stake out of Joss's hand, like a good friend would have? No, of course not. There was revenge to be had, and I wasn't giving it up for the sake of anyone.

I ran around the tree and charged for D'Ablo. Unbelievably, he saw it coming, and slapped me back.

"Vi!" Vlad gasped, "What are you doing here?"

"Saving our butts." With that, I went right back at the old vampire. _Think, Vi, think. Don't get dragged down again by your unstable powers._ I remembered what Kendra had taught me. _Focus your energy only on one part of your body._ I concentrated harder than I ever had, and delivered a punch to D'Ablo's head. The connection was hard and harsh; the vampire fell back, to my unbelievable satisfaction.

I had learned that fully changing into-well, whatever it is that I was-was unnecessary and unhelpful. I used too much power and energy that way. If I could change _a little_, focus my strength into my fist or my leg, I could kick major butt.

D'Ablo was stunned for a moment, and I paid more attention to Vlad and Joss. "Joss, please, don't do this! I'm your friend, not a monster!"

"No!" Joss yelled, "You're one of _them!_ Don't you dare call yourself my friend!"

I quickly pulled Vlad out of the way of Joss's stake. Just then, D'Ablo rushed forward, and Vlad pulled me back, out of his range. We locked eyes for a second, and he gave me one of _those_ smiles. The kind that says _Yeah, I know you screwed up, but it's cool. If we make it out of here alive, we're cool._ I returned the smile, but not for long.

The old vampire retreated, calling, "I have had enough of this! Jasik!"

"Who the heck is Jasik?" I asked out loud. And I found out, with a crushing blow to my head.

"Vi!" Vlad screamed. I turned weakly toward the sound, only to see him backed up against a tree by Joss, whose silver-tipped stake was aimed at Vlad's chest. And yet, Vlad was worried for _me?_

"Joss," I grunted, "Don't." My ex-boyfriend turned to look at me. The dead glint in his eyes flickered, and his will to murder a friend seemed to waver.

"She's right, Joss." The determined look came back to him when D'Ablo spoke. Was he being _controlled?_ I faced the old vampire, who was smiling at me wryly. Vlad, who had slipped away from Joss the second he could, grabbed my arm and helped me up. I hadn't broken eye contact with D'Ablo, and there was an excitement in his gaze that filled me with trepidation. "Forget the boy; finish the girl."

Before I could even process this, there was a rough slap on my back. I thought that Joss had merely punched me, so I turned my head to face him.

And that's when I felt the pain. Vlad's screams faded away, because I had never felt anything like this. With a strangled gasp I fell to my knees, eyes wide and staring, but vision already fading. The wave of pain crashed over me, not unlike the rush of blood that poured from my chest and mouth. It was slowly dragging me under, deeper into the darkness of excruciating suffering.

The last thing I saw before everything went black was D'Ablo's triumphant grin.


	35. Chapter 35: To The Rescue

_I guess you may have figured this, but this is Vlad's POV…_

When Joss stabbed Vi, I couldn't react right away. All I could think was, _This is a weird dream. I need to wake up._

But then she cried out in the most agonized, strangled voice I had ever heard, and I knew it was real. He had _really_ stabbed her. She was _really_ bleeding. She was _really _dying.

The dead trance Joss was in was gone, and he stared in horror at what he had done.

And then it took me about five seconds to punch him in the face. He went down hard, but didn't fight back. He stared me down, with a very real kind of hatred in his eyes, and muttered, "This isn't over." He got up and rushed away.

I would have gone after him. There was no way he could get away with this. But Vi needed me more right now, and I couldn't leave her.

I was her friend; I had to save her. How could I live without her?

Cautiously, I knelt beside her still form. Oh God, was she _breathing?_ How could she still be alive, with a freakin' _stake_ driven through her heart? I gently rolled her onto her back.

There was blood everywhere, and I was relieved that she wasn't completely human. If she were, I would have drained her on the spot.

The wood was sticking out of her back. I knew it had to come out, and soon. _Great. _I grabbed onto the stake and, holding my breath, I ripped it out of her. God, I hope it didn't splinter…

She groaned quietly, and I let out the breath I was holding. She was alive, for now.

I had been trying use telepathy to contact Otis all night, and I reached out to him once more. _Otis, I need you here _now._ Vi's hurt…dying. You have to help me._

Tears rolled down my cheeks and marred my vision. "How can I help you, Vi? What can I do to save you?"

I remembered suddenly how D'Ablo healed himself. By _drinking my blood._

_Could it really work?_

I didn't think about what would have happened if I were wrong. I had to try, because no matter how irritating and stubborn Vi could be, she was always there. She had been here tonight, hadn't she? She had my back. Now I had hers.

I took her in my arms and softly rolled her over. Without a moment's hesitation, I tore my wrist open with my fangs and held my blood-soaked hand up to her mouth. The crimson seeped through her lips, and I held my breath. This _had_ to work. If it didn't, Elvira was as good as dead.

For a while, nothing happened. I pulled my wrist away, and the wound had closed. Elvira was still, lifeless, and the tears poured down my face again. I had failed. She was gone.

Then suddenly, with a sound like a group of running spiders, the bleeding stopped. I felt her heartbeat. It was uneven, and weak, but it was there. Her eyes flickered open, briefly, and bore into mine.

"Vlad?"

I cried again, but happy this time. "God, Vi you almost died on me."

She chuckled. "You can't get rid of me…that easy." Her eyes closed again.

But she was alive. _I_ had saved her.

And I froze. _I had saved her with my blood…_

Like only the Pravus could.


End file.
